The Palestinian keffiyeh: All you need to know about its origins

A closer look at the origins of Palestine’s iconic headscarf and how it transcended borders

Palestinian women masked with traditional keffiyeh near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank (AFP/Abbas Momani)

By Indlieb Farazi Saber

28 May 2021 13:53 UTC 

A distinctly Palestinian black-and-white chequered piece of cloth, the keffiyeh is described by some as the nation’s unofficial flag.

Long synonymous with the Palestinian cause, the simple square-metre fabric, traditionally folded diagonally into a triangle and worn draped over the head of rural Palestinian men, is today securely fashioned around the necks of human rights activists, anti-war protesters, sports stars and celebrities; transcending gender, religion and nationality.

Muhammad Walid, 49, from Jerusalem says he remembers seeing his father and uncles wear the keffiyeh in his earliest memories.

“The older generations would wear it on their heads,” he says. “I started wearing it as a teenager, but around my neck. For me, it represents the Palestinian struggle and cause.”

It’s a similar story for Riad Halak, 62, also from Jerusalem, who says: “It’s a tradition of Palestine. I started wearing one when I was 11 years old, and I still wear it today on special days like the Nakba. It’s part of my identity.”

While the keffiyeh’s status as an icon of Palestinian nationhood is undisputed, its origins lie further east, in what is now Iraq.

A mural depicts the Dome of the Rock and a woman wearing the keffiyeh (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

The word itself means “relating to Kufa,” a reference to the Iraqi city south of Baghdad that sits along the Euphrates river, but little else is known about the roots of the keffiyeh. One account suggests it came about in the seventh century, during a battle between Arab and Persian forces near Kufa. The Arabs were said to have used cords made from camel hair to secure their headdresses and in order to recognise their comrades in the heat of battle. After their victory, the headgear was kept on as a reminder of their triumph. 

Others say the fabric, sometimes called the hata in the Levant, has origins that pre-date Islam and can be traced back to Mesopotamia, when it was worn by Sumerian and Babylonian priests around 5,000 years ago. 

“Its origins are open to speculation,” Anu Lingala, author of A Socio-political History of the Keffiyeh, tells Middle East Eye. “Until very recently, these types of designed objects were not taken seriously as subjects of academic research. The exception was for designed objects that were associated with elite status and wealth, whereas the keffiyeh was traditionally associated with working classes.”

Shorthand for the struggle

Although no longer linked to social status, the keffiyeh’s modern roots in Palestine are among the fellah, or rural workers, as well as the Bedouin. The two groups would wear the garment over their heads to cover the backs of their neck and protect themselves from the heat of the summer sun and the cold during the winter.

According to Lingala: “Covering one’s head was an important principle in traditional Palestinian culture.

Israel-Palestine: British media coverage ‘skewed’ and ‘biased’, report finds

“[The keffiyeh] afforded breathability through air pockets created by folds in the fabric,” she says.

The more educated, urban Palestinians, or effendi, would wear the fez or tarboush, a deep-red felt hat popularised by Ottoman ruler Mahmud II and adopted by locals as a standard form of dress. 

Cultural historian Jane Tynan has written about the scarf’s significance in the book Fashion and Politics. She says: “The Ottoman Empire’s dress codes had the effect of erasing ethno-religious identities, but would have been worn as a norm by urban dwellers.”

After the Turkish empire’s loss of its Near Eastern territories during the First World War, and the Arab Revolt against British colonial rule in 1936, Palestinian nationalists also used the keffiyeh as a means of covering their faces to hide their identity and avoid arrest, spurring unsuccessful calls among the British to ban the headscarves. Instead, in a “pivotal moment in Palestinian culture,” Palestinians united in adopting the fabric as a sign of solidarity. The symbol remained a staple icon of Palestinian nationhood after the Nakba and the establishment of the state of Israel.

“Palestinians of all social classes abandoned the fez and united around wearing the keffiyeh, making it difficult to identify the revolutionaries,” Maha Saca, head of the Palestinian Heritage Centre in Bethlehem, tells Middle East Eye.

Tynan, an assistant professor in design history and theory at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, says that “from its function in the revolt as a tool to disguise the identity of the wearer from British authorities, the keffiyeh became shorthand for the Palestinian struggle”. 

Yasser Arafat, the late leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, is said to have arranged his keffiyeh to resemble the map of pre-1948 Palestine (AFP)

Lingala makes a similar point: “As Palestinians’ collective identity and right to the land continued to be increasingly threatened… they sought to hold onto items that represented ‘cultural continuity’.”

Years later, in the 1960s, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat popularised the garment among a global audience. According to Saca: “Abu Ammar [Arafat] would never be seen at any event without it.”

His keffiyeh was always carefully positioned on his head, with the longer end of the fabric placed over his right shoulder – some say it was laid out to resemble a map of pre-1948 Palestine. 

Muhammad Walid, from Jerusalem, says his keffiyeh represents the Palestinian struggle (Muhammad Walid)

When Israeli occupation authorities banned the Palestinian flag from 1967 until the Oslo Accords in 1993, the scarf took on a potent symbolism, according to Ted Swedenburg, professor of anthropology at Arkansas University.

“Portable and visible symbols” were important to Palestinians, Swedenburg says, adding that with the flag banned by the occupation for alomost 30 years, the keffiyeh, “to which so much rich symbolism and history was attached, served as an everyday, portable, visual expression of Palestinian identity”. 

Wheat, olives and honey

The distinct black stitching on the white cotton keffiyeh is said to have many symbolic meanings, and although none have been verified, Palestinians have no shortage of interpretations.

It has been described by some as “a fishing net, a honeycomb, the joining of hands, or the marks of dirt and sweat wiped off a worker’s brow”. Others suggest the design represents ears of wheat, in reference to Jericho, one of the first known cities to cultivate the grain.

Palestinian performance artist Fargo Tbakhi adds “barbed wire” to the list, explaining the pattern could depict “that ever-present symbol of the occupation,” although he relates most to the fishing net design, also called the fatha (opening).

“[I see it] as a symbol of our identity, a model for being Palestinian, it articulates one possible futurity for our people,” he writes in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

“A fishnet is an image of collectivism, of entanglement and dependence: in a net, singular strands become something larger, stronger. As one strand, I am always yearning to be knotted together with others, so that we are better able to hold, to catch.”

Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa tells Middle East Eye that the patterns on the keffiyeh “speak to Palestinian lifeblood, in the same way that the patterns of tatreez [Palestinian embroidery] is a language unto itself, telling stories of location, lineage, occasion, and historic significance”.

The black stitching is sometimes also referred to as a honeycomb design, in recognition of the region’s beekeepers; some rural Syrians (where the cloth is also worn) say the pattern symbolises the joining of hands and the marks of dirt and sweat wiped off a worker’s brow. 

A recent tweet included another interpretation of the design, a representation of Palestine’s olive trees, which show “strength and resilience”:

Share this post to educate people on our traditional Kuffieyeh 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/R3jvs0DWp1— mars | FREE PALESTINE (@peachesfrompali) May 17, 2021

Abulhawa agrees: “The ‘bird-like’ motifs along the border are interconnected olive leaves, referring to the significance of the olive tree in Palestinian life.” 

Olives, in all forms – olive oil, olive-oil products (such as soap), and olive wood – were hugely important aspects of Palestinian culinary, social and economic life, Abulhawa explains. 

Al-Quds Sword: A Drill for the Great Liberation War

31/05/2021

Source

By Qassem Qassem/Al-Akhbar Newspaper

Translated by Staff

In the lead up to the latest confrontation with “Israel”, the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obaidah, issued a stern warning to Tel Aviv. On May 10, at exactly 4:40 p.m. local time, Hamas’s military wing gave the “Israeli” enemy “until six o’clock to withdraw its soldiers from the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and to release all detainees taken during the recent uprising in Al-Quds.”

Following the threat, the leadership of the resistance in Lebanon contacted their Palestinian counterparts for an assessment of the situation on the ground.

A source in the Palestinian resistance told Al-Akhbar that the assessment was that “the head of the enemy government, Benjamin Netanyahu, will not cancel the settlers’ march in Al-Quds and that the resistance will implement its threat, which involves bombing the ‘Israeli’ depth.”

The Hamas leadership also informed those concerned in Lebanon that the Palestinian resistance was expecting a violent “Israeli” response and an escalation that would last for nearly two weeks. During the conversation, two red lines were set. If crossed, they would require the intervention of the axis of resistance. The first is that the battle continues for about 50 days, as was the case during the 2014 war, and the second is the targeting of the missile stockpile of the Palestinian resistance and it being forced to economize in the process of launching missiles towards the “Israeli” entity.

At exactly six o’clock on that Monday, the Al-Qassam Brigades fired six rockets at the occupied city of Al-Quds, starting the Al-Quds Sword battle.

The reason for choosing this particular time and the equivalent number of rockets is due to the fact that most of the slogans calling for Gaza’s intervention to defend the city of Al-Quds were launched from Gate Number 6 at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Before the resistance carried out its threat, “Israeli” security services had contradictory assessments regarding Hamas’s intentions and their ability to launch a rocket barrage at the center of the entity.

The army’s military intelligence Aman concluded that the head of the movement’s political bureau in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar, was not interested in an escalation and that his priority was to improve the economic situation in the Strip.

The Shin Bet Internal Security Agency said that Al-Sinwar was “a religious and extremist man who sees himself as Saladin and hopes to seize on the current momentum in order to portray himself as the protector of Al-Quds.”

The Palestinian resistance believes that “Israeli” arrogance played a role in Tel Aviv’s miscalculations. They failed to take the final warning issued by the Commander in Chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Muhammad al-Deif (Abu Khaled), seriously in which he told the enemy that they would pay a dear price if they did not stop their attacks in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

According to sources in Hamas, “the enemy, because of its arrogance, thought that the response would be either demonstrations on the borders or launching a couple of missiles on settlements of the Gaza envelope. But it did not understand that Abu Khaled Al-Deif was the one who issued the threat, and the threat from a man of his stature could not be to launch rockets at the Gaza envelope.”

Hours before the first rockets were launched towards Al-Quds, the assessments of the Shin Bet were discussed by the security cabinet an hour before the resistance’s deadline expired.

During the session, the head of Shin Bet, Nadav Argaman, recommended a preemptive strike against Gaza, which was rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Benny Gantz. They wanted to wait for the first blow to appear as a victim, and then proceed with a military campaign that has American support. This is according to “Israeli” journalist, Ben Caspit, who made the revelations in Al-Monitor.

With the start of the Al-Quds Sword battle, the resistance in Lebanon raised the alert level, which was already elevated in anticipation of any “Israeli” provocations during the Chariots of Fire drills that the army intended to conduct early this month.

Despite the cancellation of the maneuver with the start of the Guardian of the Walls campaign (the name that the enemy gave to the battle), Hezbollah’s mobilization of the missile units continued.

During the battle, demonstrations rocked the northern borders of occupied Palestine. Several rockets were also launched towards the occupied territories. Most of the rockets fell into the sea, inside Lebanese territory, and in open lands in Palestine. Meanwhile, one rocket was intercepted near the city of Haifa.

Missiles and a drone were launched from Syria in conjunction with the ongoing battle in southern Palestine. The “Israelis” weren’t sure where the projectiles came from.

This was planned, and it can be considered an exercise for a war where the fronts are united and one where the enemy will experience the war of the great liberation. The coordination that took place during this battle between the factions of the resistance axis was part of a drill for the battle to eliminate “Israel”. Last year, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, visited Lebanon, where he met with the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

At that time, the work teams of Hezbollah and the Al-Qassam Brigades met to draw up a plan for the battle oof liberation, and what the enemy entity had experienced for 11 days was part of this plan.

According to leaders in the Palestinian resistance, the northern arena was not required to do more than what it did, as the main focus was on developments within the 1948 borders, the occupied West Bank, Al-Quds, and along the Jordanian border.

However, in any future battle, the enemy must realize that it will not only face Gaza, but be forced to confront Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen as well.

During the recent “Israeli” aggression on Gaza, Yemen’s Ansarullah movement communicated with Hamas and requested coordinates for sites it wanted to target with missiles and drones. But Hamas informed the Sana’a leadership that the field and military situation in the Strip is very good, and if the enemy crossed any of the red lines agreed upon with the axis of resistance, then Ansarullah can carry out their strike.

The intertwining of the axis and the prevention of singling out any party in it is a new equation established by the resistance forces in the last battle. It is a reality acknowledged by the United States, which is warning “Israel” against creating instability beyond Gaza.

“The level of violence is destabilizing beyond the limited area of Gaza … it is in no one’s interest to continue fighting,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley warned.

This new reality was confirmed by Sayyed Nasrallah in his speech on the Resistance and Liberation Day a few days ago, when he said that “any harm to Al-Quds and the Al-Aqsa Mosque means a regional war.”

Al-Sinwar also echoed this sentiment, saying in a press conference that “a regional war will take place if there is any harm to the sanctities, and that all the forces of resistance will be together in any future battle if the holy sites call upon us.”

This is well understood by the enemy. An “Israeli” security source said the threats are credible.

“It seemed as if Nasrallah and Al-Sinwar’s speeches were coordinated,” the source stressed to Al-Monitor. “Nasrallah’s words must be taken seriously. He is the most credible of “Israel’s” enemies. He usually does not make empty threats.”

“The fact that he joined Al-Sinwar at this time and his declaration that any unilateral ‘Israeli’ move in Al-Quds will lead to a war must be treated in Al-Quds as a very serious warning.”

The prospects of confronting more than one side during the next war is something Chairman of the Foreign affairs and Defense committee in the Knesset, Zvi Hauser, also warned about.

“Perhaps this is the last time that ‘Israel’ faces Hamas alone. In the future, ‘Israel’ will face a challenge at the same time on additional fronts, such as the northern front, which makes the challenge more difficult.”

The liberation strategy developed by the two resistance groups in Lebanon and Palestine has become inevitable, and the recent war on the Gaza Strip showed some of its components. In addition, the resistance’s maneuver throughout occupied Palestine showcased positive aspects and others that need more work in the near future to improve and invest in the battle of the great liberation.

In the next stage, the resistance will also work to consolidate its equation (linking Al-Quds with Gaza), even if this leads to a new round of fighting.

Related

• Hezbollah MP: Today’s Resistance Is a Coherent Axis from One End to the Other, ‘Israel’ Feeling Existential Threat
• Hezbollah Congratulates Assad’s Reelection, Hails Massive Turnout as Popular Commitment to National Unity
• Sinwar: Palestinian Factions Will Hold Talks in Cairo to Unify Positions .
•  Hamas Says Started Producing Thousands of Rockets
• Yemeni War Media Department Circulates New Footage of Major Operation against Saudi Military Posts in Jizan

Faina Savenkova appeal for the 2021 UN Children’s Day

May 31, 2021

Dear friends

Today I am sharing with you the video of the public appeal made by Faina Savenkova, from Lugansk, to the United Nations and the rest of the world reminding them that the children of the Donbass deserve to live in peace and security.  This video is posted at the same time it will go on display at the UN HQ in New York, courtesy of the Russian Mission to the UN.  For those who have missed it, here is an article written by Faina for the Saker blog in which I mention the possibility to ask Faina any question you want, please do check it out.  I now leave you with Fania’s appeal, please circulate it as much as possible!

Thank you

The Saker

‘Israeli’ Occupation Forces Run Over Palestinian Teen Biker in Al-Quds for Carrying Flag of Palestine

31/05/2021

By Staff, Agencies

‘Israeli’ occupation forces have run over a Palestinian child in the occupied East al-Quds as he was carrying a Palestinian flag on his bike before detaining the wounded minor.

The Palestinian Shehab news agency reported that the occupation forces chased 15-year-old Jawad Abbasi with their vehicle in Ras al-Amud neighborhood in Silwan, south of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, on Sunday afternoon before running over him and wounding his legs.

The brutal attack on the Palestinian minor was carried out under the pretext of raising the Palestinian flag on his bicycle, the agency added.

Silwan, home to about 33,000 Palestinians, is located outside the walls of the Old City of occupied al-Quds and its sacred sites. ‘Israeli’ occupation officials have been moving Jewish extremists to the neighborhood since the 1980s, and currently, several hundred settlers live there in heavily protected settlement compounds.

This has resulted in numerous human rights violations, including the forced eviction and displacement of Palestinian residents. The Silwan properties are claimed by extremists backed by Ateret Cohanim, a right-wing foundation that works to strengthen the Jewish presence in East al-Quds.

More than 600,000 Zionist settlers occupy over 230 settlements built since the 1967 ‘Israeli’ occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

Behind the Scenes of Gaza Battle: Hezbollah in Full Coordination, Sanaa Offers Help

 May 31, 2021

Members of Al-Qassam Brigades, military wing of Hamad Resistance group, during military parade at Gaza (photo from May 2014).

During the last confrontation between Israeli occupation and Palestinian Resistance full coordination was between powers of the Axis of Resistance, especially Hezbollah, Al-Akhbar Lebanese reported on Monday.

In lengthy articles, Al-Akhbar elaborated on details of Operation Al-Quds Sword, which confronted a wide-scale Israeli aggression and lasted for 11 days since May 10.

“Last year, head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haiyeh visited Lebanon, where he met Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah. At time, the two men decided to form committees to follow up on coordination between Hezbollah and Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades. The committees were tasked to set a plan to confront future battle with the Zionist entity, and the 11-day confrontation was part of this plan,” Al-Akhbar daily reported.

“Metro network of tunnels plan was foiled by Gaza fighters through joint aerial surveillance and intelligence coordination with Islamic Resistance in Lebanon (Hezbollah),” the Lebanese paper added.

Al-Akhbar noted that Hamas fighters misled Israeli occupation by setting fake targets to be hit by Israeli warplanes.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Ansarullah offered assistance by calling on Hamas to provide the revolutionary movement with coordinates in a bid to be targeted by Yemeni missiles and drones, the paper said.

“However, Hamas informed Sanaa that the situation in the battlefield was very good, noting that in case the enemy crossed the red lines reached upon then Ansarullah can interfere.”

Source: Al-Akhbar Newspaper (Translated and edited by Al-Manar English Website Staff)

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وقائع عن العمل الأمني السابق والمصاحب لمعركة «سيف القدس»: كيف أحبطت المقاومة «ورشة النصر» الإسرائيلية؟

فشل عملية «المترو»: المقاومة تقلب السحر

ابراهيم الأمين، عبد الرحمن نصار 

الإثنين 31 أيار 2021

كانت الخطة الإسرائيلية تقضي بقتل مفاصل العمل الفعالين في الوحدات كافة (أي بي أيه )لم يكن ما تحدّث عنه رئيس حركة «حماس» في غزة، يحيى السنوار، في المؤتمر الصحافي الأخير، سوى جزء يسير مما يمكن التصريح به: الجهد الاستخباري للمقاومة لإحباط خطة إسرائيلية معدّة سلفاً للهجوم على غزة، والتعاون الكثيف مع المقاومة الإسلامية في لبنان استخبارياً (وجوياً للاستطلاع)، ونسبة الضرر «الطفيفة» التي أصابت إمكانات المقاومة في قطاع غزة بشرياً ومادياً، ومدى الأنفاق والقدرة الصاروخية وحالة التصنيع… كلها كانت إشارات بسيطة إلى ما هو أعظم. في هذا الملف، تكشف «الأخبار» معلومات أوسع حول هذه المحاور التي حصلت على جزء منها من مصادر في المقاومة قبل بدء المعركة لكن جرى التحفظ عليها بطلب منها، ومعلومات أخرى نُقلت إليها بعد الإنجاز الذي تحقق

عمل الإسرائيلي منذ ثلاث سنوات ــ على الأقل ــ على محاولة صنع «إنجاز» يستعيد به مفاهيم «الردع» و«الجيش الذي لا يقهر» و«النصر السريع»، مع كل من لبنان وغزة. فكلمة مثل «الردع» أو حتى «تضرر الردع» تكاد تغيب عن السجالات الإسرائيلية منذ خمس سنوات، وما هذا إلا دليل على فقدانها من الخلفية التي تحرك العقل الإسرائيلي. على أي حال، حملت الدعوة إلى «ورشة النصر» في شباط/فبراير 2019 الإشارة الأولى إلى هذا البحث. آنذاك، قيل في الصحافة العبرية إن رئيس أركان الجيش، أفيف كوخافي، طلب من قيادة الجيش وضع خطة واضحة لتحقيق «النصر» في الحرب المقبلة «بطريقة لا يمكن التشكيك فيها»، ولسدّ أيّ ثغرات أمام تحقيق هذا «النصر». في التفاصيل، تقررت مشاركة أعضاء من هيئة الأركان العامة وقادة الألوية والكتائب الرئيسية، على أنه «لن يتم اتخاذ قرارات في تلك الورشة، وإنما الهدف إحداث تطوير في مفاهيم العمل العسكري لإحداث تغيير في الجيش وكذلك طريقة العمل ضد أي جبهة».
لم يمضِ سوى عام حتى بدأ العدو يتحدث عن خطة «تنوفا» (الزخم)، وفي العناوين قيل إن «الجيش الإسرائيلي يسعى إلى تطوير طرق جديدة لتحديد العدو الخفي واستهدافه في غضون ثوانٍ بعد اكتشافه عبر أجهزة الاستشعار والذكاء الاصطناعي»، وأنه «بعد عام من التخطيط يخوض صراعاً مع الوقت لتنفيذ الخطة»، وذلك «بإنشاء قوة شبكية يمكنها تدمير قدرات العدو في أقل وقت ممكن وبأقل تكلفة». ووفق مجلة «نيوزويك» الأميركية التي نقلت عن مصدر عسكري إسرائيلي (آذار/مارس 2020)، كانت الخطة تستهدف على وجه الخصوص حزب الله، من دون الإشارة إلى غزة. منذ ذلك الوقت، انبرت مراكز بحثية مثل «بيغن ــ السادات للدراسات الإستراتيجية» لمدح الخطة والإشارة إلى أنّ من أهم الجوانب التي يمكن ملاحظتها في «الزخم» أن الجيش استطاع بها تغيير مفهوم «النصر» عبر «تحوّل كبير للغاية في التفكير العسكري وتطويعه وفق تغيّر بيئة التهديدات»، قبل أن يخرج كوخافي نفسه ويعترف قبيل المناورات الأخيرة بأنه لا يمكن الحسم إلا من البرّ، إذ قيل أولاً إنه «لم يعد مجرد وصول القوات البرية إلى الأراضي المستهدفة» هو الهدف، بل «التدمير السريع لقدرات العدو بإزالة منهجية وسريعة لهذه القدرات، سواء كانت مراكز قيادة أو قاذفات صواريخ أو مخازن أسلحة أو مستويات قيادة للعدو أو أفراداً قتاليين»، مع الانتباه إلى عامل الوقت، خاصة أن الفشل في تحقيقها ثم استمرار تساقط الصواريخ يجعل «الجبهة الداخلية الإسرائيلية واقتصادها» يتأثران بصورة كبيرة، ما «سيحدث أضراراً جسيمة للدولة».

ثلاثة محاور

هكذا، شرعت مراكز البحث الإسرائيلية تشرح ميزات هذه الخطة ومستقبل الجيش إن نجح في تطبيقها (راجع الكادر: ماذا بقي من «الزخم»؟) والمقاومة تترقب. ولأن ما يُنشر عبر الإعلام العبري ليس دقيقاً وشاملاً بالضرورة، بل يمكن أن يكون موجّهاً ومقصوداً، كانت المقاومة تعمل استخبارياً وبصمت، لتحصل على التفاصيل الكاملة والدقيقة للخطة إلى حدّ أنها باتت تُدرّس في الأكاديميات العسكرية الخاصة بها، وبات الهدف إفشال ما أمكن من هذه المحاور أو كلها. تقرر أن الخطوة الأساسية لإحباط خطط العدو هي نزع المبادرة من الجيش الإسرائيلي الذي تعوّد مع غزة أن يختار الساعة الصفر، وهذا ما قلب الخطة كلها، مع أن العدو حاول تنفيذ ما يمكن من مخططه وفق الخطوات التي وضعها لكنه أصيب بارتباك كبير ومفاجآت أخرى. تقول مصادر المقاومة، إن المخطط يقوم على نظرية توافق عليها كوخافي وقيادة الجيش من ثلاثة محاور: الأول هو المعلومة الدقيقة (تحديث بنك الأهداف)، والثاني القتل السريع (الحرب الخاطفة)، والثالث القتل الكبير (الصدمة والتصفية بأيّ ثمن).

المحور الثاني من خطة العدو أقرب إلى «أكبر عملية اغتيال في التاريخ»

في المحور الأول لا بدّ من تحديث بنك الأهداف بعد «التجربة السيئة» في حرب 2014. آنذاك كانت الطائرات الإسرائيلية تستهدف أماكن (بيوتاً، شققاً، مواقع…) تكون فعلاً ملكاً للمقاومة لكن جرى التصرف بها تجارياً (بيع، إيجار…) لمواطنين آخرين لا علاقة لهم بها منذ سنة أو اثنتين ثم يتبيّن أنه لم يُسجل هذا التحديث. لذلك، صار تعزيز بنك الأهداف هدفاً أساسياً ومركزياً للخطة، لتعمل المقاومة في المقابل على تبديل كبير في هذه الأهداف والتصرف بها رغم التكلفة المالية لهذا الحراك. كما أنها ركزت على العملاء المزدوجين بصورة كبيرة (بثّت المقاومة خلال العامين الماضيين سلسلة من المقاطع الأمنية الموثقة ضمن أفلام وثائقية عُرضت على قنوات عربية وهذه المعلومات توضح جانباً من المعركة التي كانت تُدار عبر العملاء على الأرض). هذا كله أحبط فكرة «المعلومة الدقيقة»، فضلاً عن أن مبادرة المقاومة بإطلاق المعركة أعطى الفرصة بنسبة 90% لإخلاء الأهداف الممكن قصفها (فوق الأرض)، على عكس عنصر المفاجأة الذي كان يمكن أن يحرمها هذه الفرصة. فوق ذلك، استُفيد من تجربة حزب الله في حرب 2006 (محاربة عملية «الوزن النوعي»)، فابتكرت المقاومة أهدافاً وهمية لكن بما هو أوسع من منصات الصواريخ، إذ أنشأت مقاسم اتصالات وغرف قيادة ميدانية وهمية كي يضربها العدو ويظنّ أنه أنجز المحور الأول.
أما المحور الثاني (الحرب الخاطفة)، فهو نظرية إسرائيلية قديمة ــ جديدة، لكن زاد عليها العدو تكتيكات جديدة مثل «القتل السريع لأكبر عدد ممكن». في حرب 2008، مارس العدو هذا الأسلوب لكن نوعية العناصر التي تمّ استهدافها في الضربة الأولى (يوم السبت) لم تؤثر في المقاومة (استشهد مئات من عناصر الأجهزة الأمنية كالشرطة). صحيح أن هذا أحدث صدمة كبيرة في غزة، لكن في هذه التجربة يريد العدو أن يستهدف المفاصل الأساسية في العمل العسكري والتنظيمي للتنظيمات كلها في المناطق كافة. مثلاً لو كان في «كتيبة حي الزيتون» التابعة لـ«كتائب القسام» 500 إلى 700 عنصر، يجري تحديد 15 إلى 20 هم المفاصل الأساسية للعمل (القيادة الميدانية أو الأكثر تدريباً وفعالية وذكاء وروحية)، ولا سيما مسؤولي الوحدات (المدفعية، القوة الصاروخية، العاملين في مجال الطائرات المسيرة، القوات البرية الخاصة…)، من أجل شلّ بقية العناصر. بإحصائية أولية لهذه المفاصل (بتقدير إسرائيلي وأيضاً لدى المقاومة)، يجري الحديث عن «أكبر عملية اغتيال في التاريخ»، إذ ستستهدف أكثر من 450 كادراً فعّالاً في الضربة الأولى مع نسبة نجاح محتملة تُقدّر بـ70% بالحد الأدنى، ليصير الجهاز العسكري في التنظيم مشلولاً كلياً، ما يعيق استمرار المقاومة بصورة فعّالة. وفي حال تمّ هذا المحور، يكفي للإسرائيلي أن يحقق منه صورة النصر منذ بداية المعركة. هنا تحديداً أخذت المقاومة قرارها في اتجاهين. الأول توزيع خطة العمل التفصيلية على كل عنصر بحدّ ذاته، أي لو استشهدت المستويات القيادية المتعددة كلها، يبقى كل فرد يعلم ما عليه فعله في منطقته بأكثر من سيناريو حتى النهاية. الثاني هو أن المقاومة سعت إلى تقليل خسائر الضربة الأولى الخاطفة (القتل السريع) إلى ما بين 20% ــ 30%، وذلك بأن تمنع ظهور الكوادر الفعالة ومفاصل العمل على «الرادار»، باعتماد سياسة «التدوير» في العمل من فوق الأرض ومن تحتها، فلا يكون فوق الأرض سوى ثلث القوة العاملة لتمارس حياتها الطبيعية، على أن يكون الثلثان تحت الأرض، ويجري التدوير بينهما. لكن هذا الإجراء على مدار شهور أرهق المقاومة وقد لاحظه الإسرائيلي، ولذلك كان الحل الأمثل نزع المبادرة من العدو.

تقرر ألا يظهر على «رادار» العدو أكثر من 20% ــ 30% من الكوادر المهمين والمقاتلين (الإعلام العسكري لـ«كتائب القسام»)
انتقالاً إلى المحور الثالث تقرر إسرائيلياً أنه في الضربة الأولى لا بدّ لنجاحها من تطبيق نظرية أخرى ــ حتى لو تعارضت مع المحورين السابقين ــ هي القتل الكبير أو الجماعي. فمثلاً لو كان هذا الكادر وسط عائلته أو في السوق بين مئة شخص أو داخل برج سكني، يُضرب الهدف بدون تردد، الأمر الذي أحبطته المقاومة في إجرائها الوقائي ضد المحور الثاني، وهو فعلياً ما حاول العدو تطبيقه خلال بعض أيام المواجهة الأخيرة في شمالي القطاع حينما دار حديث عن رصد قائد لواء الشمال في إحدى الأذرع العسكرية فضُرب مربع سكني كامل (تكرار محدّث لـ«عقيدة الضاحية»)، وكذلك في شارع الوحدة بمدينة غزة. لكن هذا المحور أخفق لأنه كان مرهوناً بنجاح المحورَين الأول والثاني. وبقراءة للأرقام التي قدمتها «حماس» و«الجهاد الإسلامي» للشهداء في صفوفها، يتبين أن المحاور الإسرائيلية الثلاثة لم تتحقق وبخاصة الأخير، إذ قضى من الصفّ الأول في «حماس» شهيد واحد ومن الصف الثاني 15، والبقية (نحو 35) كانوا مقاتلين. أما في «الجهاد الإسلامي»، فارتقى نحو 22 شهيداً منهم اثنان من الصف الأول و5 من الثاني والبقية مقاتلون. هذا تقريباً هو الشق العملاني الكبير في هذه الخطة التي تعدّ ضربة أولى لتحصيل النصر قبل بدء الحرب، ليجري بعدها تخيير المقاومة بين الحرب (مثلاً على قاعدة ثلاث أو أربع بنايات مقابل كل صاروخ يخرج من غزة)، وبين حل سياسي يشمل ملف الجنود وهدنة طويلة الأمد ودخول قوات عربية أو قوة فلسطينية مقبولة إسرائيلياً مثل القيادي المفصول من «فتح» محمد دحلان تحت عنوان «المنقذ» للغزيين حاملاً معه رزم مساعدات كبيرة مقابل إدارة القطاع سياسياً. ولضمان النجاح لهذه الخطوة، سيعمل العملاء وأطراف أخرى على تحريك الجبهة الداخلية ضد المقاومة جراء هول الصدمة من الضربة الأولى «القاضية والخاطفة والكبيرة» لتطالب بدورها المقاومة بحلّ سياسي عنوانه وقف العدوان بأيّ ثمن.

من الدفاع إلى الهجوم

في المرحلة الأولى، كانت المقاومة تفكر كيف تُحبط هذا المخطط. لكنها بالتعاون مع القوى الأخرى في محور المقاومة انتقلت إلى التفكير في «قلب» هذا المخطط ضد العدو نفسه. جاء القرار الأول بأن تكون الساعة الصفر بتوقيت المقاومة (السادسة مساء)، ما مثّل بحدّ ذاته إخفاقاً استخبارياً كبيراً للعدو الذي فوجئ بقرار المقاومة الجريء لاستغلال أول حدث ممكن، فجاءت الاعتداءات في المسجد الأقصى وتهديد أهالي الشيخ جراح بالتهجير ــ على خطورتها ــ لتكون فرصة تضرب بها المقاومة أكثر من عصفور بحجر واحد، وهو ما يجعل هذه الحرب استباقية لجهة المقاومة، ومواجهة أمنية واستخبارية قبل أن تكون عسكرية. هذا لم يكن كافياً في نظر المقاومة ومن معها لضمان الانتصار ميدانياً (أولاً) ولضمان تحقيق الأهداف السياسية بعد انتهاء المواجهة (ثانياً). فخرجت نظريات ومحاور بديلة عملت المقاومة على تطبيقها تباعاً، لكنها احتاجت إلى شرط مهم للنجاح هو تفعيل «غرفة العمليات المشتركة» ونقل مستوى التعاون بين الأذرع العسكرية إلى أفضل ما يمكن مع صياغة تفاهمات تفصيلية. أيضاً تقرر اعتماد تكتيكات حماية للكوادر العاملة في الميدان أمنياً وعسكرياً تضمّن «تصفير الإصابات» بين صفوف المقاومين خلال إطلاق الصواريخ أو المهمات الأخرى، لكن قيادة المقاومة تتحفظ على نشرها حالياً.

انتقلت المقاومة من إحباط خطة كوخافي إلى قلبها ضده وضد جيشه

يُشار هنا إلى أن عملية التدقيق جارية حالياً لدى قوى المقاومة وأجهزتها الأمنية للتثبّت من أمرين: الأول هل هناك خلل في عمليات التنقل أدى إلى انكشاف بعض المواقع، أو المكتب في أحد الأبراج حيث استشهد بعض القادة، أو أن هناك اختراقاً أمنياً بشرياً أو تقنياً ساعد العدو على الوصول إلى بعض المقاومين، علماً أنه بالنظر إلى تجارب سابقة، فإن عمليات الرقابة الجوية التي يجريها جيش الاحتلال خلال المعركة كانت لا تستهدف محاولة الوصول إلى منصّات أو مرابض للصواريخ قابلة للتفعيل فقط، بل مراقبة المقاومين الذين يتحركون بطرق لافتة وهم يعملون على إنجاز المهمة الأخيرة من تفعيل المرابض الصاروخية، ولا سيما أن بعض العمليات كانت تتطلب أن يتوجه مقاوم واحد فقط مزوّداً بخريطة أو بمعلومات توثّق له مكان المنصة، وأن يعمل على تفعيل العمل عبر نظام مرتبط بساعة توقيت، وعليه تنفيذ المهمة والعودة إلى قاعدته قبل وقت جيد من إطلاق الصليات الصاروخية، وهو ما جعل العدو يخفق في تحديد دقيق للأهداف حتى أنه ضرب أهدافاً مدنية لأنه يشك في احتمال أن تكون المقاومة استخدمتها، وهذه الإشارة تحمل دلالات كبيرة على النقص الكبير في المعلومات الاستخباراتية المجهّزة سلفاً، والفشل في تجميع معطيات أمنية خلال الحرب. وعندما تقررت الساعة الصفر، كان التنسيق بين «كتائب القسام» و«سرايا القدس» قد أنجز المرحلة الأولى بقرار شن الهجوم الصاروخي لكن قيادة «القسام» طلبت بعض الوقت الإضافي، لتظهر المفاجأة لاحقاً بأنها قررت مباشرة العملية بالصلية التاريخية نحو القدس، وهو ما مثّل عنصر مفاجأة حقيقياً ليس للعدو فقط، بل لحلفاء الكتائب داخل القطاع وخارجه، فيما عكست هذه الضربة الحرفيةَ العالية لدى «القسام» لناحية حجب المعطيات عن ورش التصنيع عندها عن أقرب المقربين، وهو ما اتضح بكون هذه الفرق تعمل بطريقة لا تتيح لكل من هو في الجسم العسكري الاطلاع عليها.

المحور الرابع الذي عملت عليه المقاومة هو ضرب الأهداف النوعية للعدو (أي بي أيه )

بالعودة إلى خطة عمل المقاومة، مثّلت المحاور المقابلة بدورها خطوات جريئة أخرى فاجأت العدو. المحور الأول أنه لا خط أحمر أمام المقاومة (مع الحفاظ على التدريج في العمل)، إذ لا يوجد ما هو ممتنع على المقاومة قصفه أو محاولة الوصول إليه بأي طريقة، من دون الالتفات إلى أي ضغط عربي أو دولي، وهذا تمّ منذ اليوم الأول. المحور الثاني هو اختيار التوقيت للضربات النوعية (تحديداً الصليات المئوية) وإعلانها مسبقاً والطلب من وسائل الإعلام ترقّبها، على نحو يُثبت عجز جيش العدو عن منع المقاومة ويثبّت مصداقيتها أمام جمهورها وأمام العالم، على أن يجعل هذا الحدث الجبهة الداخلية للعدو متيقنة من قدرة المقاومة على إيذائها وصدقيتها، وأن تفقد الشعور بأن الجيش يستطيع حمايتها وكذلك بوعود قادتها جميعاً السياسيين والعسكريين. أما استعمال كمية صواريخ من ثلاثة أرقام، فكان جزءاً أساسياً من هذا المحور لإيقاع صدمة وإرباك كبيرَين لدى العدو. المحور الثالث هو «المدن المحروقة»، والهدف منه أولاً إيقاع أكبر قدر ممكن من الخسائر، وثانياً كيّ وعي العدو، إذ حينما تنتهي الحرب يخرج المستوطنون ليروا حجم الدمار والخسائر ويعلموا أن عامل الأمان بات مفقوداً إلى الأبد. هذا أيضاً تطلّب تعاوناً من الأذرع العسكرية كافة لتركيز الاستهداف في أوقات معينة على مدن محددة (أسدود أولاً عسقلان ثانياً بئر السبع ثالثاً) بصليات مكثفة تشلّ «القبة الحديدية»، مع مواصلة ضرب «غلاف غزة» وإبقائه ضمن هذه المعادلة. وهو طبعاً ما وسّع دائرة النار حول القطاع وجعل مفهوم «غلاف غزة» عسكرياً يزيد من 15 ــ 17 كلم إلى 45 كلم!
في ما خص مواجهة «القبة الحديدية»، لجأت المقاومة إلى نظام إطلاق استهدف ليس تغطية مساحات واسعة من مدن ومرافق الكيان فقط، بل ما يجعل الأمر صعباً على قيادة العدو في طريقة استخدام القبة. حتى أن الأمر بدا محبطاً لقادة العدو، فرغم ما مرّ من وقت على الحرب، لم يكشف جيش الاحتلال عن عدد الصواريخ التي وصلت إلى الأرض، فيما ستتوفر في وقت قريب الدراسة الكاملة من جانب المقاومة لناحية تحديد ليس فعالية القبة فقط، بل مدى نجاح المناورات التي تهدف عملياً إلى تعطيل «مركز تشغيل إشارات المرور» على ما يقول أحد الخبراء واصفاً عمل القبة بأنها «آلة تطلق رشقات صاروخية باتجاه أهداف تكون ضمن مرماها كما حددها الرادار»، لكنها تصاب بإرباك في حالة توسع المرمى من جوانب عدة، وهو ما يجعل الأخطاء كبيرة لناحية أن تصيب القبب بعضها بعضاً، أو لناحية أن تُوجه أكثر من قبة نحو هدف واحد، وهذا يحتاج إلى نشاط عملياتي هائل من جانب القبة حتى تتمكن من محاصرة كل الموجات الصاروخية في حال انطلقت في وقت واحد. كما جرى استعمال الإشغال التقليدي عبر استخدام رشقات مكثفة من صواريخ تقليدية جداً تنشغل القبة في مطاردتها لأنه لا يمكن لجيش العدو أن يستهتر بوصولها إلى الأرض وإيقاعها إصابات أو خسائر كبيرة، وفي هذه الحالة، يُتاح لصواريخ من مديات معينة ورؤوس تفجيرية ومصنوعة من مواد خاصة التفلّت من رقابة القبة والوصول إلى أهدافها، مع الإشارة هنا إلى أن العدو كان يعرف أن فعالية الصواريخ المنطلقة من غزة ليست في قدراتها التدميرية فحسب، بل في كونها تفرض على قيادة الجبهة الداخلية سلسلة من الإجراءات تكون نتيجتها تعطيل الحياة وبثّ الرعب في مساحات واسعة.

وسّعت المقاومة مفهوم «غلاف غزة» من 15 ــ 17 كلم إلى 45 كلم!

أما المحور الرابع الذي عملت عليه المقاومة خلال هذه المواجهة، فهو ضرب الأهداف النوعية مثل القواعد الجوية والموانئ ومجمّعات البترول ومنصات الغاز في البحر (للمرة الأولى)، بما يُحدث صدمة أخرى كبيرة لدى العدو قيادة وجيشاً وسكاناً. ثمة محور خامس، ربما كان الأبرز والأهم في هذه الحرب ويلغي بدوره جزءاً أساسياً من خطة العدو، هو فرض معادلة «تل أبيب مقابل الأبراج السكنية». وإن لم تنجح المقاومة خلال هذه المواجهة في تثبيت هذه المعادلة سريعاً فاضطرت إلى قصف تل أبيب أكثر من مرة لتحقيق ذلك، فإنها ــ بعد اليوم الخامس والخطأ الإسرائيلي في استهداف برج «الجلاء» الذي يحوي وكالة الأنباء الأميركية ــ استطاعت تثبيتها لاحقاً وحماية ما تبقى من أبراج تتركز غالبيتها في مدينة غزة. وأخيراً طوّر الأمين العام لحركة «الجهاد الإسلامي»، زياد النخالة، هذه المعادلة بإعلانه في مهرجان الانتصار الذي أقامته الحركة في غزة أن أي اغتيال ينفّذه العدو ــ بحق القادة أو المقاتلين ــ سيقابله قصف تل أبيب فوراً ومن دون اعتبار لأيّ اتفاق. توازى مع ذلك محور سادس عمل على تثبيته رأساً قائد أركان «القسام»، محمد الضيف، ويقضي بشلّ المركز (الوسط) الذي حاول العدو إظهار أن الحياة تسير فيه بصورة طبيعية، وهو ما وسّع ــ مع بضعة صواريخ انطلقت من لبنان ــ دائرة دخول الملاجئ لتشمل أكثر من ستة ملايين إسرائيلي.
محور العمل السابع كان الاستمرار في الجهود الممكنة لإيقاع خسائر في صفوف جنود العدو بصورة مباشرة، والهدف لم يكن إعلامياً ــ أننا نستهدف العسكر فقط ــ بل منع العدو من التفكير في خيار التقدّم براً في أي حال، وأيضاً ملاحقته على «أرضه». استُعمل لتطبيق ذلك الصواريخ الموجّهة وتكثيف قذائف الهاون (تقرر تأجيل الاقتحامات أو الإنزالات خلف الخطوط أو عمل «الضفادع البشرية» إلى مرحلة لاحقة)، وهو ما احتاج أيضاً إلى تعاون وتنسيق فصائلي كبير، كما جرت الاستفادة من أمن المقاومة في جلب أهداف للضرب بعدما توارى الجنود بعيداً عن مدى الصواريخ والقذائف، الأمر الذي نجحت فيه «سرايا القدس» في أول يوم من المواجهة، وكذلك «القسام»، مع الحرص على أن تكون الكاميرا حاضرة قبل السلاح لتؤدّي هذه الضربات الجدوى المطلوبة منها. هناك محور أخير أرادت المقاومة تطبيقه لكنها لم تنفذه جراء إصرار مصري هو إنهاء الحرب بضربة مؤلمة تبقى في الذاكرة الإسرائيلية، وأعلنها أولاً المتحدث باسم «القسام»، أبو عبيدة، نيابة عن الفصائل كافة، وعاد السنوار ليوضح أن الضربة كانت ستشمل فلسطين كلها بثلاثمئة صاروخ في لحظة واحدة. لكن المقاومة عملت على استغلال هذا المحور لتثبيت وقف النار على طريقتها: نتوقف بالتزامن، ونحن آخر من ينتهي من القصف.

محاولات استدراك خائبة
مقابل كل هذا «الزخم» الذي أبدته المقاومة، حاول العدو استدراك ما ضاع من خطته باستعمال كثيف للنار (تطبيق بقايا خطة «الزخم»)، والمناورة بإشاعة الاجتياح البري لترتكب المقاومة أخطاء تجعل العشرات أو المئات من عناصرها على مهداف سلاح الجو، وقد وقع كثيرون من الصحافيين في الترويج لها ــ عن علم أو دون علم ــ وهو ما كانت المقاومة قد تحسبت له جيداً، واستطاعت بالرصد الجوي المشترك مع المقاومة الإسلامية في لبنان وبتعاون استخباري كثيف منع تحققه، خاصة بعدما تأكد لها أن الحشود البرية كانت على بعد كيلومترات (بين 5 إلى 8) من الحدود، وهو ما يتناقض مع مبدأ التوغل. كما أن غياب الحشود الكبيرة على حدود غزة (الحشود الكبرى بقيت في الشمال بحكم المناورة الملغاة، أو لم تكن معدة لمناروة مباشرة وفق برنامج العمل بفعل اندلاع المواجهة. كما أنه لم يتم حشد الاحتياط بصورة كبيرة) أكد للمقاومة أن مبدأ العمل البري منتفٍ ولا سيما بعدما فقد الإسرائيلي عنصرَي المبادرة والمباغتة. وتعبيراً عن هذا الإخفاق وجّه مسؤولون أمنيون إسرائيليون أمس انتقادات إلى «مناورة الخداع التي انتهت بهجوم محدود بتوقيت خطأ ونجاح محدود»، فيما رد الجيش بالاعتراف أن «السر كُشف وكان يجب علينا استغلال الفرصة». تلك المصادر قالت إن «الخطة الأصلية تتضمن إدخال قوات برية إلى القطاع الأمر الذي لم يخرج إلى حيز التنفيذ». ووفق صحيفة «معاريف»، «توقعوا في الجيش أن تدخل حماس أربع كتائب إلى الأنفاق وأنه نتيجة للهجوم الجوي الذي سيعقب ذلك سيسقط 800 قتيل منهم. وفق الخطة الأصلية من المفترض أن يبدأ عدد من الألوية بالدخول لكن الجيش قرر أخيراً الاكتفاء بالعمل وفق الخطة المقلصة». أما السبب، كما تقول الصحيفة، فهو أنه «منذ اللحظة الأولى لعملية الخداع أدرك الجيش أن مقاتلي حماس لم يدخلوا الأنفاق، رغم التقديرات بوجود بضع عشرات قبل ذلك، فأجّل الجيش الهجوم الجوي لكن الصورة لم تتغير بعد ثلاث ساعات، وفي نهاية الأمر تقرر شن الهجوم» الفاشل.

هذه الأنفاق ستكون كلها متاحف للمقاومة يزورها الناس بعد التحرير

يُذكر أن خطة كوخافي الخاصة بالعمل البري تستند إلى نظرية تولى شخصياً الترويج لها منذ توليه منصبه، وكان يحسم كل نقاش مع ضباطه وجنوده قائلاً إن النصر لا يتحقق من دون المناورة البرية، لكنه لم يكن يقُل ذلك في معرض الرد على أنصار نظرية الحسم من الجو، بل يشدد على أن تجارب المواجهات في غزة وفي لبنان، ومعها دروس الحرب السورية، تؤكد أن فعالية سلاح الجو تبقى من دون أهمية في حال لم تكن المناورة البرية هي الأساس. لكن العامل الإضافي يتصل بكون المناورة البرية في مذهب كوخافي تتعلق بأن المهمة الرئيسية في الوصول إلى مرابض الصواريخ تحتاج إلى عملية برية لا الاكتفاء بالقصف من الجو، خصوصاً أن أجهزة الأمن الإسرائيلية لم تدّعِ يوماً قدرتها على توفير بنك أهداف يشمل منصات الصواريخ، كما تعرف أنها عرضة لعمليات تضليل مستمرة من جانب المقاومة. ومع أن ما تقدم وتكشفه «الأخبار» يوضح السبب الحقيقي والتفصيلي لهذا الإخفاق، يصرّ العدو على أنه إخفاق ميدانيّ تكتيكيّ أكثر منه استخبارياً رغم فلتات اللسان والجدل الإعلامي الدائر. أما الحقيقة الكاملة التي تحدث السنوار عن جزء منها (بقوله إن نسبة الضرر لم تتعدَّ 5%)، فهي أن المقاومة تعمدت بخطة ذكية تسليم أنفاق فرعية محددة للعدو وكشفها عبر تحركات مدروسة لعناصرها فضلاً عن أنفاق وهمية. مع ذلك، لم يمنع هذا الإجراء وقوع بعض الخسائر وضرب بعض الأنفاق جراء أخطاء فردية أو الكثافة النارية للعدو أو حصول الأخير على معلومات استخبارية صحيحة، وهو أمر كان محتملاً لدى المقاومة لكنها عملت على تجنّب الخسائر الكبيرة، فلو حدث وضُربت مئة كيلومتر من الأنفاق، كما أشاع الجيش الإسرائيلي، لكان هناك مئات الشهداء، وهو أمر لا يمكن إخفاؤه. ومن المهم التنبيه إلى أن طبيعة القطاع تتيح للعدو عبر المراقبة الجوية فقط (علماً أنه يتكل بقوة على عناصر بشرية) مراقبة أشغال معينة في مناطق وبؤر تتيح له التعرف إلى ورشة تخص حفر أنفاق، خصوصاً أن عمليات الحفر والتثبيت توجب وجود ورش لصناعة المواد الخراسانية لا تكون بعيدة من الورشة، كما أن عمليات نقل الرمل من أمكنة الحفر لا يمكن أن تتم بطريقة مخفية تماماً ربطاً بواقع القطاع وطبيعته الجغرافية. ومع ذلك، يصير العدو الذي يمكنه في هذه الحالة التعرف إلى مدخل النفق في حالة عمى مع تقدم الوقت، لأن المدخل الرئيسي للنفق حتى لو امتد عشرات الأمتار، يكون مقدمة لعمليات تفريع لا يعلم بها إلا من يوجد داخل النفق نفسه. ثم إن كل عملية حفر تنتهي بإغلاق الفتحة الرئيسية التي انطلق العمل منها لأنها تعتبر «محروقة» وفق التصنيف الأمني، فلا يتم استخدامها لا للدخول ولا للخروج، بل تعتبرها المقاومة «نقطة ميتة». أما في ما يخص تركيبة هذه الأنفاق التي قال السنوار إنها تمتد إلى 500 كلم، فتتحفظ قيادة المقاومة عن ذكرها الآن، لكنها تتكلم حول «مدن كاملة تحت الأرض ومجهزة بمستويات متعددة».

كان مطلوباً إسرائيلياً تهييج الجبهة الداخلية ضد المقاومة (أي بي أيه )

هكذا، انهارت سنوات من العمل الإسرائيلي الدؤوب، فيما تقول المصادر في المقاومة الفلسطينية، إن «الفضل الأول يرجع إلى الرحمة الإلهية، ثم إلى العقول المبدعة في صفوف المقاومة التي ترى أنها انتقلت إلى مرحلة أخرى ومختلفة من العمل بعد عقود من العمل والتجربة والخطأ». كما تُرجع الفضل إلى محور المقاومة بدوله، إيران وسوريا، وقواه، حزب الله وقوى أخرى ـــ تحفظت على ذكرها الآن ــ «ليس على ما قدمته من مال وخبرات وأسلحة حصراً، بل معلومات وتنسيق أنقذا المحور كله وفي مقدمته غزة من كابوس كبير إن نجحت خطط العدو»، فضلاً عن «الاستعداد الحقيقي والفعلي للمشاركة في الحرب بصورة مباشرة لو تطلّب الأمر ذلك، أو بطلب مباشرة من المقاومة الفلسطينية »التي تؤكد المصادر أنها لم تفكّر أصلاً في هذا الطلب خلال المواجهة، بل كانت «مسيطرة ومستعدة للمواصلة ليس شهرين كما قدّر الاحتلال، بل ستة أشهر بالحد الأدنى». ترى المصادر ذاتها أنه من المصلحة الفلسطينية ألا تتدخل قوى أخرى خلال تلك المعركة «لأنها بدأت فلسطينية، ومن الجيد أن تنتهي بانتصار فلسطيني بحت حالياً»، كما أن «التدخل الكبير سيشوش على الحراك في الضفة والـ48 الذي أردنا أن يستمر كي يطلق مرحلة جديدة من الصراع بعد المواجهة». هذا كله لم يمنع التوافق بين أطراف محور المقاومة على أن يكون عنوان المرحلة المقبلة هو أن المساس بالقدس سيعني حرباً إقليمية تنتهي بإزالة الكيان، على أن يجري تطوير هذه المعادلات للوصول إلى «اتفاقات دفاع مشترك في الساحات كلها»، أي كما تقرر أن ضرب إيران يعني اشتعال ساحات المواجهة كلها، يجب أن يُتفق على أن أي ضربة للمقاومة في لبنان أو غزة يعني اشتعال الجبهتين معاً، وهو ما يجري بحثه في الأروقة المعنية. تختتم المصادر بأن هذه التجربة وما سيُكشف منها تباعاً ــ وفق الضرورات والمحظورات ــ ستكون جزءاً من التاريخ الفلسطيني، وأن هذه الأنفاق «ستكون كلها متاحف للمقاومة يزورها الناس بعد التحرير». أما أسئلة من قبيل: ما قصة «البروفا» التي تحدّث عنها السنوار، وما مستقبل العمل بين أطراف محور المقاومة، وما حكاية الطائرة التي أتت من حدود الأردن، وهل توجد ساحات عمل جغرافية أخرى لم تُكشف للعدو بعد وسيفاجأ منها…؟ فوعدتنا المقاومة بالحديث عنها في الوقت المناسب.

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ماذا بقي من «الزخم»؟

لم يقدّم العدو في تهرّبه من المواجهة البرّية أي مبرّر عسكري واضح، متجنّباً الاعتراف بخوفه من وقوع قتلى وأسرى في صفوفه ــ بالمئات هذه المرة كما تعد مصادر في المقاومة ــ مع أن المحللين والإعلاميين الإسرائيليين تكلّفوا شرح هذه المخاوف. هذا بدوره ينسف صُلب نظريات أفيف كوخافي الذي ذكره السيد حسن نصر الله في أكثر من خطاب، بعدما قدم الأول نفسه على أنه من سيُخرج الأرنب من القبعة ويعيد المجد إلى إسرائيل وجيشها. وبما أن تحقيق النصر قبل الدخول براً لم ينجح، فإنه متعذّر حكماً من دون العملية البرية. مع ذلك، جرى التمديد لكوخافي عاماً إضافياً، ولا سيما أنه تغيّب على الساحة العسكرية الإسرائيلية أي نظرية جديدة بعد هذا الإخفاق الكبير، لتتركز الحلول على الجهود السياسية والاقتصادية، أو ما يسمى «الحرب الصامتة».
فكّك الزميل علي حيدر خطة «تنوفا» (راجع العدد 4349، في 27 أيار)، لكنّ عودةً إلى تفاصيل هذه الخطة تظهر كم أن العدو عجز عن تحقيق الحد الأدنى منها جراء سوء الحسابات وانتزاع المبادرة منه بل وقوعه في الحفر التي حفرها للمقاومة. كانت الخطة تتصور جعل الجيش «أكثر حدة وفتكاً بعد أن تتلقى الوحدات الميدانية ثروة من القدرات التي يتمتع بها حالياً المقر المركزي للجيش في تل أبيب»، وهذا يعني أن «الكتيبة الواحدة ستكون مرتبطة رقمياً بجميع القوى ذات الصلة في قطاعها وبإدارة المخابرات، فيما يتمكن قائد السرية من تفعيل طائراته الذاتية القيادة واستخدام شبكة القيادة والتحكم الرقمية التابعة للجيش لتنشيط الدبابات أو المروحيات أو وحدات الحرب الإلكترونية فور اكتشاف الأهداف الحساسة، مثل خلية مضادة للدبابات مختبئة في الطابق الثالث لأحد الأبراج». وكان مقدراً أنه إذا نجحت الخطة، فستكون للجيش الإسرائيلي في 2030 «آلة حرب شبكية أكثر فتكاً يمكنها تدمير قدرات العدو في وقت قياسي وبأقل الخسائر الممكنة». لكن واقع المعركة الأخيرة يقول إن المقاومة حوّلت كل هذه القدرات إلى خردة حديدية بلا عمل، أو بالحد الأدنى بلا تأثير.

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ماذا يدور في عقل كوخافي؟

لمقاربة أدقّ للأسس التي وضع عليها كوخافي خطته، كتب ياجيل ليفي، وهو مؤرخ ودكتور في الجامعة العبرية المفتوحة، مقالة في صحيفة «هآرتس» الأسبوع الماضي، بعنوان «أفيف كوخافي: رئيس أركان الحيّز المكاني والقتل»، قال فيها إن «تصريحات كوخافي تكشف أنه رأى غزة كما رأى مخيم بلاطة (بنابلس) في حملة السور الواقي في 2002… أي بصفته مكاناً مزدحماً بالبشر وليس سوى مشكلة هندسية يجب إيجاد الحلول لها، والمدنيون هم فيها مصدر إزعاج». وبينما كانت حملة «حارس الأسوار» الاختبار الفعلي الأول له، «سيقرر التاريخ لاحقاً كيف اجتاز هذا الاختبار… لقد تعهد يوم تنصيبه بإعداد جيش فعال وحديث وفتاك، ليجرّ استخدامه كلمة فتاك انتقادات عليه»، يقول ليفي. ويضيف: «انطلقت خطة الزخم في فبراير (شباط) 2020 ولم يتردّد كوخافي في توجيه الانتقادات الضمنية إلى أسلافه والمستوى السياسي، فصار السعي إلى الانتصار وليس تحقيق الردع عقيدته التي لاقت إعجاب اليمين أيضاً». ويتابع الكاتب: «عندما تحدث رئيس الأركان أمام لواء المظليين في القوات النظامية وأوضح أنه في نهاية كل مرحلة من القتال يجب فحص الأضرار التي لحقت بالعدو والأهداف التي جرى تدميرها، كان يريد أن يقول إن نجاح المقاتلين يقاس أيضاً بعدد القتلى في الطرف الثاني، وهذا ليس اهتماماً جديداً لديه، بل سبق أن أصر في 2002 على قتل المقاتلين الفلسطينيين بدلاً من السماح لهم بالاختفاء أو حتى الاستسلام»، وهو ما سُمّي «تكتيك الموت» من «شخصية تكنوقراط ترى استخدام القوة العنيفة أمراً مركزياً… ولع كوخافي بالفلسفة يغلف عقيدته بلباس ناعم». ولذلك، يرى ليفي، أنه «ليس عجيباً أن رئيس الأركان أعطى تعليماته في سنته الأولى بإلزام القادة قراءة كتاب المتغيرات تحت النيران الذي كتبه العقيد دوغلاس ماكغريغور لأنه يراه مثالاً عملياً في عملية التغيير التي مرّ بها الجيش الأميركي مع أنه يشجع على القتل أولاً».
يكمل المؤرخ الإسرائيلي: «حتى لو كانت الزخم في بداية طريقها، ولا يمكن اعتبار عملية حارس الأسوار ثمرتها النهائية، ليس هناك شك في أن العملية عكست منطق الجيش الذي قاده كوخافي بعدما أعاد تنظيمه وحتى تربيته، كما أنه في تصريحه الذي أدلى به مع اندلاع العملية أقر أنه يوجد في الجانب الآخر في غزة واقع صعب لكنه لم يحدد الواقع المدني أو العسكري… ثم في بيانه المشترك مع نتنياهو وغانتس في نهاية اليوم السابع للقتال اختفت حتى هذه الإشارة وركز في حديثه على الضرر الذي ألحقه الجيش بأنفاق حماس… التي تمردت على النظام الحضري عندما حفرت الأنفاق تحت الأرض، ليعمل كما فعل في حملة الجرف الصامد (2014) حين رأى أنها ليست سوى مساحة يجب دفع مقاتلي العدو داخلها ثم تدميرها من الجو حتى تنهار عليهم… حتى أن المتحدث باسم الجيش أنتج شريط فيديو تنهار فيه المباني على وقع صوت الموسيقى!» ولذلك، يرى ليفي أن «هدم الأبراج الذي كان عنوان الاعتزاز في العملية العسكرية لم يكن إلا جزءاً من إعادة تصميم المساحات الحضرية، فلأهل غزة المبنى مسكن ولكوخافي منشأة عسكرية من اللحظة التي يوجد فيها أعضاء من حماس»، مستدركاً: «يبدو أن الجيش الذي يمتلك أفضل استخبارات في العالم لا يعرف أن تدمير المبنى يساهم في انهيار الطبقة الوسطى في غزة، التي تستطيع ممارسة الضغط على حماس لتليين مواقفها… الكراهية المتراكمة عند سكان غزة تجاه إسرائيل التي تغذيها بنفسها بجهود عسكرية متواصلة لا تنجح في تحريك وعي أحد رؤساء الأركان الأكثر تعليماً من أولئك الذين خدموا هنا».
*ساهم في ترجمة المقالة مركز «أطلس للدراسات والبحوث»

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كم صاروخاً لدى المقاومة؟
تشير تقديرات العدو الإسرائيلي إلى وجود 16 ألف صاروخ لدى فصائل المقاومة كافة في قطاع غزة، فيما ذكرت تقديرات أخرى أن العدد يراوح بين 50 و60 ألفاً. ترد المصادر على ذلك بالقول إن «العدد ليس مهماً… نحن تجاوزنا فكرة العدد منذ الحرب الأخيرة، لكن يكفي النظر إلى معدل الإطلاق (400 صاروخ يومياً) مع تأكيدنا أنه معدل مريح وعادي بالنسبة إلينا، ثم ضربه بـ180 يوماً، لأخذ فكرة أولية!»، مشيرة إلى أن «ورشات التصنيع بقيت تعمل بكفاءة وفعالية خلال الحرب»، وزادت وتيرتها بعد الحرب «خصوصاً بعد شحنة المعنويات الأخيرة»، وهي كفيلة بالتعويض بنسبة الثلث مما تقصفه الأذرع العسكرية يومياً. وبينما تتحفظ المصادر نفسها عن نشر تفاصيل كثيرة في هذا الإطار، تكتفي بذكر أن العدو اكتشف في هذه الحرب أن توزيع الصواريخ جرى على محافظات القطاع كافة بعدما صار لدى المقاومة مديات كبيرة، وهو ما أفقده القدرة السابقة على ضرب الوحدات الصاروخية التي كانت متركزة أكثر ما يكون شمالي القطاع، الأمر الذي يجعل مجال المناورة أوسع لدى المقاومة والقدرة على الاستمرارية بالقصف أطول.

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النخالة: تل أبيب مقابل حياة مقاتلينا وقادتنا
وجه الأمين العام لـ«حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين»، زياد النخالة، رسالة إلى قادة العدو قال فيها «إن أي عملية اغتيال، تستهدف مقاتلينا أو قادتنا، في أي مكان، وفي أي زمان، سنردّ عليها في الوقت نفسه بقصف تل أبيب قولاً واحداً… رُفِعَتْ الْأَقْلَامُ وَجَفَّتْ الصُّحُفُ». وشدد النخالة، في كلمته خلال المهرجان الذي نظمته «الجهاد الإسلامي» أول من أمس احتفاءً بانتصار معركة «سيف القدس»، وسط مدينة غزة، على أن «الحركة ملتزمةٌ بمقاومة الكيان الصهيوني، ولن تتوقف عن قتاله حتى يرحل عن أرض فلسطين، مهما كانت التضحيات». وتابع: «هذه الجولة من القتال بيننا وبين العدو لم تنتهِ بعد، ومقاتلونا ما زالوا جاهزين لاستئنافها في أي وقت… استجبنا لإخواننا في مصر وقطر الذين نقدّر جهودهم في وقف العدوان على شعبنا، والتزمنا وقف النار المتزامن والمترابط بما يخدم ما انطلقنا من أجله، وهو حماية أهلنا في حي الشيخ جراح، وعدم المساس بالمسجد الأقصى».
(الأخبار)

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… ما لم تستعمله المقاومة
تقول المصادر في المقاومة إنها أعدّت خططاً لا تقلّ نوعية عن الأداء الذي أظهرته الوحدات الصاروخية والمدفعية على صعيد البر والبحر. لكن الظروف الميدانية ومسار المعركة لم يسمحا بتفعيل هذه الخطط أو بعمل بقية الوحدات سوى الدروع والقناصة والاستخبارات وأمن المقاومة. وأضافت أن «ما سيلقاه العدو لو كان قد قرر الاقتراب من غزة، وليس مجرد الدخول إليها، كان أعظم مما يتصور»، موضحة: «طوّرنا الخطط لنكون في مرحلة لا ننتظر فيها العدو ليدخل بل ليقترب من الحدود فقط». وبالنسبة إلى باقي المفاجآت، قالت المصادر إن ما كشفته المقاومة لم يتعدّ «3 أوراق قوة ومفاجأة من أصل 10». وحتى على صعيد الصواريخ هناك ما لم يُكشف بعد، ليس على صعيد المدى تحديداً، وإنما على مستوى القدرة التدميرية والتوجيه وطرق تجاوز «القبة الحديدية». وإن كانت المقاومة قد كشفت بعض التفاصيل خلال الأيام التي تلت انتهاء الحرب حول بعض الصواريخ، فإن ما بقي «أكثر بكثير» من ذلك، تقول المصادر. كذلك، هي ترفض التعليق على ما أورده حساب INTELSky على «تويتر» المتخصص في الرصد الجوي، حين أورد أنه في الصلية الكبيرة الثانية ضد تل أبيب استُعملت صواريخ ذات رؤوس انشطارية، قائلة إنها تترك هذه التفاصيل للعدو كي يعرفها، ثم ــ إن أراد ــ أن يعترف بها.

من ملف : فشل عملية «المترو»: المقاومة تقلب السحر

Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestine (20 – 26 May 2021)

27/05/2021

Source

20 – 26 May 2021

• Israeli Offensive on the Gaza Strip Ceased:

21 Palestinians killed, including a woman and 2 children

87 Palestinians wounded, including 17 women and 38 children.

9 houses and civilian facilities directly bombed

IOF partially re-opens Beit Hanoun and Karm Abu Salem crossings only for the humanitarian cases and humanitarian aid.

IOF’s gunboats open fire in 3 separate shooting incidents at the fishing boats off the central Gaza Strip shore

  West Bank:

2 Palestinians killed, including a child, and a third one succumbed to his wounds

47 Palestinians, including 3 children and a woman, wounded

In 198 IOF incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem: 167 civilians arrested, including 11 children and a young girl.

In settlers’ attacks in Hebron and Salfit: cave burnt and farmers, their lands and houses assaulted

IOF established 58 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank and arrested 10 Palestinian civilians on said checkpoints

Summary                                                                                        

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to commit crimes and multi-layered violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt.) In the last day of its wide-scale military operation on the Gaza Strip, IOF continued their airstrikes in one of the worst aggressions and manifestations of organized state terror. More Palestinians have fallen victims (dead and wounded.)  Despite a ceasefire was reached on Friday dawn, IOF continued to close the Beit Hanoun “Erez” and Karm Abu Salem Crossings and only partially reopened for conditional and exceptional cases. Moreover, IOF continued its crimes in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, including incursions, raids, and arrests, all over the cities and villages.  Israeli settlers also continued their crimes against the Palestinian civilians and their properties. This week, the settlers committed further murders and crimes of excessive use of force; during which, civilians suffocated due to teargas inhalation and injuries were reported due to settlers’ beating and abuses.

IOF shooting and violation of right to bodily integrity:

In the Gaza Strip, before the ceasefire was reached on Friday 21 May 2021, IOF’s bombardment in the last day of its aggression killed 4 Palestinians, including a woman, and 16 bodies were retrieved from under the rubble, including 2 children.  Moreover, 78 others were wounded, including 17 women and 38 children, while 9 houses and several facilities were targeted.  Two days after the ceasefire, a Palestinian succumbed to his serious wounds in Khan Younis.  Thus, the death toll of the aggression has risen to 253, including 66 children and 39 women, while the number of injuries has amounted to 1461, including 286 women and 433 children.

In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF killed 2 Palestinians, including a child, while Montaser Jawabrah succumbed to his wounds he sustained on 18 May 2021 in Jenin. IOF shooting also wounded 47 others, including 3 children and a woman.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians: IOF carried out 198 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids of civilian houses and shootings, enticing fear among civilians, and attacking many of them. During this week’s incursions, 167 Palestinians were arrested, including 11 children and a young girl.

Settler-attacks: 

Hebron: a cave was burnt in eastern Yatta; civilians’ houses were attacked with stones in al-Hussein Valley area; and olive seedlings were damaged and uprooted in Ar-Rihya village.

East Jerusalem: Raid of al-Aqsa Mosque yards

Salfit: farmers and their vehicles were assaulted amid settlers’ shooting and firing of sound bombs and teargas canisters at them.

Israeli closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement:

Al  though a ceasefire was reached on Friday, 21 May 2021, the Israeli authorities continued to close Kerm Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossings and the sea, banning entry of goods, food supplies or fuel, tightening the closure that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2006.

On Tuesday, 25 May 2021, IOF reopened the Kerm Abu Salem Crossing only for the entry of humanitarian supplies and Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing only for the travel of patients and internationals.  They reopened the Gaza Sea for fishermen up to 6 nautical miles out of the 15 miles that were allowed before the latest aggression.  This came to perpetuate Israel’s collective punishment policy against the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, the Israeli authorities continued to divide it into small isolated cantons while many roads are still completely closed.  In addition to the permanent checkpoints, IOF establish temporary checkpoints that hinder civilians’ movement and arrest many of them.

Shooting, Suppression of Protests and other Violations of the Right to Life and Bodily Integrity

Israeli Offensive on the Gaza Strip:

On the 11th day of IOF’s aggression on the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes while the gunboats and artillery continued to shell heavily, targeting more houses and civilian facilities.  The bombardment continued until a ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, entered into force at 02:00 on Friday, 21 May 2021.

The bombardment on the last day of aggression killed 4 Palestinians, including a woman, and 16 bodies were retrieved, including 2 children.  Moreover, 78 others were wounded, including 17 women and 38 children, while 9 houses and several facilities were targeted.  Two days after the ceasefire, a Palestinian succumbed to his serious wounds in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.

Thursday, 20 May 2021

Northern Gaza Strip:

Airstrikes resulted in the murder of 3 Palestinians and the injury of 59 others, including 26 children and 14 women. Also, 2 houses were completely destroyed, while other houses, shops, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) headquarter, and infrastructure sustained partial damage.

• At approximately 02:35, Israeli warplanes launched 2 missiles on the main street connecting Block (7) with Block (9) in front of Safi Shops for Construction Materials in Jabalia refugee camp.  As a result, 7 Palestinians were wounded, including 3 women and 1 child while many facilities, houses and infrastructure sustained damage.

• At approximately 04: Israeli warplanes launched 2 missiles at the end of al-Saftawi Street, western Jabalia, causing damage to the infrastructure of the street, including electricity, communication and water networks. Moreover, many nearby houses and shops sustained damage in the area, but no casualties were reported.
• At approximately 12:00, Israeli warplanes targeted a group of civilians in Beit Lahia, killing Hesham Shaher Mohammed al-Shurafa (26) and wounding another Palestinians (moderate wounds).
• At approximately 12:30, Israeli warplanes launched two missiles at al-Areiny family home in Tal al-Za’tar, completely destroying the two-floor house.
• At approximately 15:55, Israeli warplanes launched one missile at WAEL Hassan Salim Rajab’s house in Beit Lahia, completely destroying the two-story house.
• At approximately 16:40, Israeli warplanes launched a missile at a white Skoda Citgo car while driving down a sub-street of al-Saftawy neighborhood, western Jabalia. The airstrike killed Maisra Abdul-Shakour Mosbah al-Ar’eer (22) and Omar Ahmed Mohammed Jendya (24) and destroyed the car.
• At approximately 17:00, an artillery munition on Ali Khalil Ali Abu-Jarad’s (69) house in Izbat Beit Hanoun, wounding 6 Palestinians, including the houseowner who was classified in critical state.
• On Thursday morning and evening, Israeli gunboats and artillery fired several shells at eastern and northern areas in northern Gaza Strip. As a result, many houses sustained partial damage.

Gaza City:

Two houses were completely destroyed due to the Israeli bombing. Also, 2 other houses, 3 factories and many shops sustained severe damage. Moreover, medical crews found the dead body of a girl under the rubble of her family home, while the death of another child was announced after finding his body under the rubble of his family house.

• At approximately 06:00, Israeli warplanes launched a missile at the fifth floor in a residential building in Gaza City, wounding 5 children.
• At approximately 08:00, IOF warplanes launched three missiles at Abdul-qader Abdul-Aziz al-Kojok (76) in Sheikh ‘Ejleen, completely destroying the 4-floor apartment building (600 sqm). The building had 8 apartments and housed 4 families, including 20 children and 4 women.
• At approximately 13:00, IOF warplanes launched two missiles at the northern side of the first floor of al-Raed (1) apartment building at the center of Gaza city, completely destroying the apartment and 4 commercial shops. Also, neighboring houses sustained significant damage.
• At approximately 14:00, Israeli warplanes bombed and completely destroyed Kuhail building in eastern Gaza city. The 4-floor building had 4 commercial stores that were destroyed: al-Badrasawi for Children Clothing; Kuhail Home Appliances; Badri men’s clothing and Jenina Children Clothing.
• At approximately 16:45, Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at Nael Zeyad al-Abed Abu-Ouda in Shati refugee camp, causing significant damages to the 4-floor 270sqm building. The building had 3 apartments and was home to 3 families, including 15 children and 9 women.
• On Friday, medical crews found the body of 3-year old Meriam Mohammed Ouda al-Telbany under the rubles of her family home, which was bombed by Israeli warplanes on 11 May 2021. The Forensic Medicine Department stated that the child’s body had decomposed.
• Also, it was found that 10-year old Yehya Mohammed Sobhi al-Hadidi was killed with his family during the IOF airstrike on Abu-Hatab family home in Shati refugee camp on 15 May 2021. The child was buried with his mother and his three siblings but his name was not documented at al-Shifa Medical Complex.
• During PCHR team’s field visit to Palestine Industrial Estates Development & Management Co. Ltd. (PIEDCO) in eastern Gaza, the team documented that 3 other factories -than previously recorded- were destroyed in the area. As such, the total number of factories attacked by IOF artillery reached 12. At the moment this press release was published, fire is raging in the area as IOF hindered the access of the Civil Defense crews.

  Central Gaza Strip:

• Israeli warplane launched 4 missiles at a house belonging to Darwish ‘Abdul Karim ‘Ammar in al-Bureij refugee camp, causing damage to the house.  The house shelters 7 families of 36 members, including 17 children and 7 women.
• At approximately 12:30, for several hours, IOF intensified the artillery shelling in eastern Central Gaza governorate. Shells fell on several houses (Halawa, Abu-Ayyad, and Hamdan family homes) in eastern Buraij, causing partial damages.

 Khan Yunis:

Airstrikes resulted in the murder of a woman and the injury of 14 Palestinians, including 3 women and 7 children. As 3 houses and gas filling station sustained severe damage.

• At approximately 00:10, Israeli warplanes launched a missile at a house belonging to Mohammed and Mo’nes Muhareb, east of Ma’an area.  As a result, the huge missile fell on the house and did not explode, only penetrating the house of their neighbor, Ramzi Abu Hadayed.  As a result, a person and his 3 kids were wounded while the 2 houses sustained wide destruction.  In the morning, the Explosive Engineers arrived and took the missile out of the house.
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• At approximately 05:10, Israeli warplanes launched a missile at a house belonging to Mohammed Khaled al-Khawaldah.  As a result, the 120-sqm house in al-Satar al-Gharbi neighborhood sustained wide destruction while a nearby house belonging to Na’elah Rabi’a al-Khuzondar sustained severe damage, killing Huda Salah Rabi’a al-Khozondar (36) and wounding her husband and her 2 and a half year-old baby girl, Malak.  Also, 7 others were wounded in al-Khawaldah’s house and a nearby house, including 2 women and 2 children; one of the persons wounded had his leg amputated.
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• At approximately 06:30, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at Mohammed Ahmed al-Ghemari’s house in Khan Yunis, and compeletely destroyed it. Before destroying al-Ghemari’s tin-plate house, an Israeli drone fired a missile at the house (200sqms), which sheltered 4 families of 20 members, including 10 children and 5 women. The airstrikes caused severe damage to nearby houses. It should be noted that the Israeli Intelligence Services called one of the residents orderding him to vacate the area.

• At approximately 11:30, an artillery munition targeted a gas filling station in al-Satar al-Gharbi area, setting it on fire. The fire was put out after a laborious effort by the Civil Defense Crews as IOF continued to bomb the area.

• At approximately 15:30, IOF drone launched a missile on Mousa Sobhi al-Hindey’s house in Khan Younis. The drone-strike was followed by two missiles by a military aircraft, one detonated and caused extensive damage to the 3-floor house and nearby houses; the other did not detonate. The bombing was preceded by a call from the IOF to one of the residents that ordered them to evacuate the 200sqm house that sheltered a family of 7.

• At approximately 16:00, IOF fired several artillery munitions that hit and destroyed Ghassan Barham Salem al-Jarf’s house, a greenhouse, and Khaled Fayez Ali Arafat’s water well in ‘Abasan al Jadida.

• At approximately 19:05, Israeli warplanes launched a missile on an agricultural land in al-Satar al-Gharbi area wounding a Palestinian woman.

• On Friday, 21 May 2021, the bodies of 15 Palestinian members of armed-groups arrived to Naser Hospital after their bodies were retrieved from two locations that were bombed by IOF in the past few days, while the bodies of 4 other Palestinian members of armed-groups are still under the rubble. On Monday, 24 May 2021, the bodies of those members were retrieved.

• At approximately 15:00 on Monday, 24 May 2021, medical sources declared the death of Osama Ashraf Mohammed Abu Ridah (22), from Khuzaʽa village in eastern Khan Yunis, succumbing to serious wounds he sustained on Tuesday, 18 May 2021, after a drone fired a missile near his house. Osama sustained shrapnel wounds in his head and received treatment at Naser Medical Complex until his death was declared.

 Rafah:

Airstrikes launched on Thursday destroyed a house completely and caused severe damage to a pharmacy, a main electrical line, many houses and infrastructure.

• At approximately 03:30, Israeli warplanes launched 2 missiles at a truck belonging to ‘Emad Mes’ed Salim Sha’ath in al-Naser village and completely destroyed it.

• At approximately 12:20, IOF artillery fired munitions on eastern Rafah, destroyed a main electrical line and setting agricultural lands on fire.

• At approximately 14:00, Israeli warplanes launched three missiles on Hussein Amir Hussein al-Mughair’s house in al-Shaboura refugee camp, completely destroying the 3-floor house. Four Palestinians sustained wounds in the attack, including a child and a journalist. The house was home to four families (21 persons), and was targeted with two drone-launched missiles two days ago.

Other Israeli Attacks on Gaza Strip:

• At approximately 18:20 on Saturday, 22 May 2021, Israeli gunboats stationed off Deir al-Balah city in central Gaza Strip, chased Palestinian fishing boats sailing within less than 3 nautical miles, opened fire at them and pumped wastewater at them; no casualties were reported. The IOF shooting at the fishing boats recurred in the next two days.

Murder and Shooting Incidents in the West Bank, Including occupied East Jerusalem

• At approximately 06:30 on Thursday, 20 May 2021, IOF moved into Jab’ village, south of Jenin. Meanwhile, a group of Palestinian young men gathered and threw stones and empty bottles at IOF’s vehicles. IOF immediately fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and teargas canisters at the protestors. As a result, 3 of them, including a 15-year-old child, were shot with live bullets. Also, many protestors suffocated due to teargas inhalation and received treatment on the spot. The wounded protestors were taken to Dr. Khalil Suliman Governmental Hospital in Jenin for treatment. Also, IOF arrested Jehad Khaled Mohammed Fashafsha (23) and withdraw later.

• At approximately 10:00, medical sources at al-Razi Hospital in Jenin announced the death of Montaser Mahmoud Zidan Jawabrah (28), from Um Dar village, southwest of the city, succumbing to wounds he sustained on 18 May 2021, during clashes erupted in Tura village, southwest of Jenin. It should be noted that Jawabrah was injured in his head and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) until his death was declared.

• At approximately 10:15, IOF moved into Araqah village, west of Jenin. In the meantime, a group of Palestinians gathered and threw stones at IOF’s vehicles. IOF immediately fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and teargas canisters at the protestors. As a result, a 15-year-old child was shot with a live bullet in his right thigh and taken to Dr. Khalil Suliman Governmental Hospital for treatment. Also, many protestors suffocated due to teargas inhalation.

• On Thursday, 20 May 2021, hundreds of Bethlehem residents organized a peaceful protest in front of a metal-detector gate placed at the annexation wall established on the northern side of Bethlehem, calling for ending the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. The protestors raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans. During which, IOF patrols came from one of the wall gates and fired live and rubber bullets and teargas canisters at the protestors. After that, separate clashes erupted near the military checkpoint (300) and continued for several hours. As a result, 7 protestors were shot with Two-Two and rubber bullets, while other protestors suffocated due to teargas inhalation. In the same context, clashes broke out at the western entrance to Beit Fajjar and al-Khader villages, south of the city. During which, IOF fired a barrage of rubber bullets and teargas canisters at the protestors. As a result, dozens of them suffocated due to teargas inhalation.

• At approximately 16:00, a large number of Israeli soldiers moved into Deir Nidham village, northwest of Ramallah, and established a military checkpoint at the village’s entrance. They checked Palestinians’ IDs, causing a traffic jam while a number of Palestinian young men gathered and threw stones and Molotov cocktails at IOF and their vehicles. IOF immediately suppressed the protestors and fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, many of them suffocated due to teargas inhalation. IOF also closed the village’s entrance with cement cubes and sand berms, and it is so far closed, forcing the villagers take bypass and dirt roads to reach their workplaces outside the village.

• Following the Friday prayer, 21 May 2021, several peaceful protests took off in various neighborhoods in the West Bank in in solidarity with Gaza and Jerusalem. The protestors chanted slogans and raised Palestinian flags. IOF suppressed the protest and separate clashes broke out. As a result, many protestors were shot with live and rubber bullets while others suffocated due to teargas inhalation. The Following are the most prominent protests:
• A protest took off from Bita village municipality towards Subeih Mount, where a settlement outpost is established in the southeastern side of Nablus. IOF suppressed the protestors, wounding a 35-year-old male with a live bullet in his right leg and a 24-year-old male with a rubber bullet in his head. Both of them were taken to Rafidia Hospital for treatment.
• A protest took off from Beit Dajan village council towards lands under the threat of confiscation, northeast of Nablus. As a result, many protestors suffocated due to the IOF’s suppression.
• A protest took off near Huwara checkpoint, east of Nablus. IOF suppressed the protestors. As a result, a 20-year-old male was shot with a live bullet in his left foot and a 22-year-old male was shot with a live bullet in his right leg. Both of them were taken to Rafidia Hospital for treatment.
• A protest took off in front of Tubas village municipality towards Tayasser military checkpoint, east of the city. As a result, many protestors suffocated due to the IOF’s suppression.
• Kafr Qaddum weekly protest, which was organized near the northern entrance to the village, east of Qalqilya. As a result, 4 protestors were injured.
• A peaceful protest took off from the Dome of the Rock yard in al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. IOF suppressed the protestors, wounding 23 of them and arresting 17 others. IOF also assaulted, beat and pushed press crews. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) stated that they treated 21 persons during clashes erupted in the al-Aqsa Mosque; 2 of them were hit with sound bombs in Bab al-‘Amoud and Bab al-Sahera. Lawyer Feras al-Jebrainy said that many Palestinians were arrested from al-Aqsa Mosque’s yards and at its gates. The arrestees were identified as Fares ‘Odallah, Harbi al-Razim, Samer al-Bakri, Mohanad al-Bakri, ‘Abdullah al-Bakri, Mohammed al-Salaimay, Ahmed Borqan, Malek Abu Hadwan, Ihab Najajrah, Mousa Jabour, Yousef Taha, Majd Abu Hadwan, ‘Izz Abu Kaf, Nour Abu Kaf, ‘Alaa Abu Kaf, ‘Ali Abu Sarhan, and Mohammed Faroukh.
• A peaceful protest took off from ‘Azza refugee camp, north of Bethlehem, towards Rachel’s Tomb, north of Bethlehem. Two protestors were shot with Two-Two bullets, while others suffocated due to teargas inhalation.

• At approximately 17:00 on Saturday, 22 May 2021, IOF suppressed a peaceful protest organized by Sheikh Jarrah residents in north of occupied East Jerusalem, calling for lifting the closure imposed on the neighborhood for 14 days and ending settlers’ attacks on the residents. Mona al-Kurd, spokesperson of Sheikh Jarrah residents and one of the neighborhood’s residents whose houses are under the threat of forced displacement as well as the organizer of the Save Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood campaign, called on social media for a peaceful protest at the entrance to the neighborhood. At approximately 17:00, dozens of Palestinians headed to the neighborhood, andchanted slogans condemning the closure of the neighborhood and IOF violations against its residents. During which, IOF assaulted the protestors, forcibly dispersed them and fired sound bombs at them. As a result, Lina Mi’ari was hit with a sound bomb in her head and taken to the hospital for treatment.

• At approximately 18:00 on Sunday, 23 May 2021, IOF stationed near the annexation wall established in Far’un village, east of Tulkarm, fired live and rubber bullets and teargas canisters at Palestinian workers, who attempted to enter Israel for work. As a result, a 29-year-old male was shot with a live bullet in his left leg.

• At approximately 13:30 on Monday, 24 May 2021, IOF opened fire at Zuhdi Mohanad Zuhdi al-Taweel (17), claiming that he attempted to carry out a stabbing attack near the railway station at the central intersection in French Hill area adjacent to Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, north of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. As a result, al-Taweel was shot with several live bullets and left bleeding to death in the scene.

According to PCHR’s investigations and eyewitnesses’ testimonies, IOF stationed at the central intersection, adjacent to the National Headquarters of the Israeli Police, which is also close to the Israeli Border Guard Headquarter in the French Hill area adjacent to Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, opened fire at Zuhdi al-Taweel, who was carrying his school bag, under the pretext that he stabbed two Israelis, including a soldier, in the railway station. Al-Taweel fell on the ground and was critically injured; however, IOF continued shooting at him. They handcuffed him, tore his clothes, searched him and his school bag, took his fingerprints, and left him bleeding to death.

Spokesperson of the Israeli police said in a statement that: at approximately 13:30, a young man arrived at the railway station and stabbed with a knife he had 2 persons, so police officers immediately opened fire at him and neutralized him.” It should be noted that al-Taweel was a high school student from Kafr ‘Aqab neighborhood, north of occupied East Jerusalem.

• At approximately 15:00 on Monday, 24 May 2021, IOF moved into Al-Janiya village, west of Ramallah, and stationed at the eastern entrance. IOF closed the village’s entrance with cement cubes, under the pretext that the village entrance is close to “Talmon” settlement, which is established on part of the village’s lands. Meanwhile, the settlement guard opened fire at Nadeem Samer ‘Abed al-Majeed Mazloum (15), wounding him with a live bullet in his left shoulder. Nadeem was injured when he was between the residential houses watching what was going on. He was then taken to Palestine Medical Complex for treatment. Clashes then broke out in the area, but no casualties were reported.

• On Tuesday dawn, 25 May 2021, in a new crime of extra-judicial execution committed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), a special Israeli force directly opened fire directly at a Palestinian male while he was in his car in Um al-Sharayet neighborhood in Ramallah, killing him immediately. The Israeli force looked at his face after killing him and withdrew later. According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 04:30 on Tuesday, 25 May 2021, a special Israeli force sneaked into Um al-Sharayet neighborhood from the southern side of al-Bireh city, north of Ramallah, via a Caddy civilian car and parked on a street in the neighborhood. At approximately 04:38, the special Israeli force approached a MG car with a yellow registration plate that was parked on the street, a Palestinian man was inside. Afterwards, three unmasked members of the special force in black clothing stepped out of their vehicle and fired several live bullets at the car, which was parked in the area; the bullets smashed its rear window and damaged its front door. The Palestinian man attempted to open the car door to step out, but he fell on the ground. The members of the special force surrounded him, looked at his face and then fled.  Afterwards, a number of Palestinians gathered and took the wounded man to the Palestine Medical Complex, where medicall sources announced his death. The victim was Ahmed Jamil al-Fahd (26), from Am’ari camp near Um al-Sharayet neighborhood, who was shot with 4 live bullets in his left shoulder, chest and lower limbs, which killed him immediately.

• At approximately 10:30 on Wednesday, 25 May 2021, IOF suppressed a peaceful protest organized by the residents of Baten al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan village, south of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, and other Palestinians who stand in solidarity with them in front of the Israeli District Court on Salah al-Deen Street in central Jerusalem. The protest was organized against the Israeli orders issued to evacuate the houses of Baten al-Hawa residents and seize them in favor of settlement associations. It should be noted that the Israeli District Court held a session on Wednesday morning to consider appeals submitted by Baten al-Hawa residents who are under threat of forced displacement. Before holding the session, dozens of the neighborhood residents and other Palestinians gathered in front of the court and raised banners demanding the international and local community to intervene immediately in order to stop the displacement of 70 Palestinians from the neighborhood. Afterwards, IOF deployed in the area and placed iron barriers at all entrances leading to the court to prevent Palestinians from reaching the area. IOF suppressed the protestors and beat them up. They also arrested Sultan Sarhan 916) after punching his face and beating him with riffles’ butts.

• Yazeed Qa’war, lawyer of Baten al-Hawa families, said that during the court session that was held in the morning, he pleaded on behalf of hundreds of persons and dozens of families whose houses are under the threat of eviction in Baten al-Hawa neighborhood. He added that he submitted two appeals to cancel the eviction orders issued against two families. He also clarified that the legal claims made by the lawyers are strong and the court will seek the opinion of the legal advisor in the coming days.

It should be noted that 7 families in Baten al-Hawa neighborhood submitted appeals after eviction orders were issued against their houses, while dozens of other families are waiting to consider their cases.

• At least 51 families comprised of 720 persons, from Baten al-Hawa neighborhood, are facing the same fate of the residents of al-Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which is under the threat of forced displacement in favor of settlement associations. It should be noted that Atarit Cohenim Association seeks to seize 5 dunums of lands and 200 square meters from al-Wusta neighborhood in Baten al-Hawa, under the pretext that its ownership is for Jewish from Yemen. In September 2015, Atarit Cohenim Association distributed eviction orders to Baten al-Hawa residents who challenged these orders. Many judicial orders were issued by Israeli District and Magistrate Courts supporting the ownership claims made by Atarit Cohenim Association.

It should be noted that Baten al-Hawa neighborhood is adjacent to al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan village, and its eviction is a prelude to demolish al-Bustan and other nearby neighborhoods that surround al-Aqsa Mosque. Also, Silwan village is the nearest village to Jerusalem’s Old City walls and gates from the southern and eastern sides. About 55 thousand people are living there. Israel divided Silwan village into many neighborhoods, including Wadi al-Helwa, which is the most targeted neighborhood by settlers, in addition to al-Bustan neighborhood that Israeli authorities seek to remove in order to establish the Talmudic parks.

Incursions and arrests:

Thursday, 20 May 2021:

• At approximately 00:00, IOF moved into Um al-Rokba area in al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Abed Zeyad Arafa’s (16) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 00:15, IOF moved into Qabalan village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Ja’far Marwan Aqraa’s (21) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into Fureidis village, east of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Nour al-Dein Mahmoud al-‘Ammour’s (17) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Bidu village, northwest of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Tareq Fadel al-Sheikh’s (46) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Shu’afat neighborhood, north of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (5) civilians. The arrestees were identified as Islam Haitham Da’bs, Ibrahim Mahmoud, Omar al-Safa, Abd al-Qoddous Issa and Mohammed Khudair.
• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Beit ‘Anan village, northwest of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Mohammed Baker Rabea’s (27) house and arrested him.
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• Around the same time, IOF reinforced by 3 military vehicles moved into Yatta, south of Hebron. They raided and searched 3 houses and arrested 3 civilians namely Mohammed Ibrahim Huraizat (40), Fadi Ayed al-‘Ammour (30) and Mohammed Bassem al-‘Ammour (38).

• At approximately 02:30, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into Surif, west of Hebron. They raided and searched Islam Arafat al-Hidmi’s (29) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into Dura, southwest of Hebron governorate, and stationed in Kuseise area. They raided and searched the house of the former Minister of Endowments, Nayef Mohammed Mahmoud al-Rajoub (64), and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:50, IOF moved into Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Mohannad Mo’een Tabanja (24), from Khillat al-Amud neighborhood, southwest of the city, and Ahmed Yousef Awwad (47), from al-Makhfiya neighborhood, west of the village.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Iraq al-Ta’eh village, adjacent to Amman Street, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Yazan Musbah Yousef Jaber’s (40) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into al-Wad neighborhood, one of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City’s neighborhoods. They raided and searched Mohammed Salman Abu Sbeih’s (17) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF reinforced with 3 military vehicles moved into Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. They raided and searched Ali Sami ‘Adi’s (28) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 03:50, IOF reinforced by several military vehicles moved into Irqan Awad area, west of Dura, southwest of Hebron. They raided and searched Yousef Abdul Aziz Qazzaz’s (48) house, assualted his wife and daughter, and arrested him.

Yousef Qazzaz’s wife said to PCHR’s fieldworker that:

“We woke up to presence of Israeli soldiers in our bedroom, so I started shouting at them for how did they enter our house in this way. The Israeli officer said that he does not need a permission to storm any house. The soldiers took my husband to the living room until I wore my clothes and followed them. One of the soldiers ordered me to give him my cell phone but I refused, so he pushed me hard to the wall. Immediately my 14-year-old daughter, Jana, intervened and attempted to defend me, but one of the soldiers hit her with his riffle’s butt on her left shoulder and then took my husband to where their military vehicles stationed. When I checked the house I found that the soldiers messed up my bedroom and scattered some contents in store at the stairs”.

• At approximately 04:00, IOF moved into Silwan, south of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Ashraf al-Rajabi and Mohammed Awad, and arrested them.

• At approximately 10:00, IOF arrested Zakariya Hazina (29), from the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, while present in his workplace in West Jerusalem.

• At approximately 14:00, IOF arrested Siraj Mahmoud Abu Sbeitan (22), from al-Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, while heading to his place of work in the occupied city.

• At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into al-Wad neighborhood, one of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City’s neighborhoods. They raided and searched Yousef Emad al-Ghoul’s (23) house and arrested him.

• IOF carried out (4) incursions in Ya’bad and Zibda, southwest of Jenin; Beit Kahil and Shuyukh in Hebron. No arrests were reported.

Friday, 21 May 2021:

• At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into al-Eizariya village, east of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Mohammed Qatamira and Nasim Qatamira, and arrested them.

• At approximately 01:30, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into Samu village, south of Hebron. They raided and searched Ayman Ahmed Abu Awwad’s (39) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF reinforced by several military vehicles moved into the southern area of Hebron. They raided and searched Eisa Najeh al-Sleiby’s (34) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 03:15, IOF moved into al- Ma’ajin neighborhood, west of Nablus. They raided and searched the house of the spokesperson of “Jerusalem is Our Destinatغ” electoral list, Alaa Ahmed Hmeidan (47), and arrested him.

• At approximately 05:35, IOF moved into the industrial area of al-Bireh, north of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched Saji Ali Abed’s (23) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 06:20, IOF moved into Jaba’, south of Jenin. They raided and searched Izz al-Dein Farhat Fashafisha’s (24) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 10:00, IOF arrested Marwan Mohammed Abu Fara (39), when he was at the Israeli Intelligence Services’ office in “Gush Etzion” settlement upon a summons sent to him in order to refer to the Israeli Intelligence for an Interview with the Shin Bet.

• At approximately 14:00, IOF arrested Majd al-Dein Abu Adwan (24), while present inside his vehicle in al-Thuri neighborhood, south of the occupied East Jerusalem. IOF took him out of his vehicle, severely beaten and took him to one of the detention centers in the city.

• At approximately 23:00, IOF moved into Jalajel village, east of Hebron. They raided and searched Wafa’ Abdul Rahman Baradi’y’s house, who was killed by the Israeli settlers at the entrance to “Kiryat Arba’” settlement, east of Hebron, claiming that she had a gun with her and attempted to shoot on 18 May 2021. IOF held her family in one room and searched the house. They arrested her brother, Ramzi Abdul Rahman al-Baradi’y and later withdrew.

• IOF carried out (7) incursions in Tell and Aqraba, southeast of Nablus; Nazlat Zayd, southwest of Jenin; Hebron, Yatta, Beit Ummar and Fawwar refugee camp in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Saturday, 22 May 2021:

• At approximately 00:30, IOF severely beaten and arrested (4) civilians who were in Bab al-Amoud area in the occupied East Jerusalem, and took them to one of the detention centers in the city. The arrestees were identified as Mohammed Akram al-Basti (22), Ahmed al-Basti (22), Ehab Akram al-Basti (26) and Tamer Amjad al-Basti (23).

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into al-Issawiya village, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Mahmoud Ashraf Obaid’s (18) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Tammun, southeast of Tubas. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Basel Mustafa Bisharat (22), and Izz al-Dein Bani Owda (23).

• At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into ‘Aqqaba village, southwest of Tubas. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Harith Belal Abu Arra (18).

• At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Awarta village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Abdul Salam Mustafa Oud’s (54) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 10:00, IOF arrested 2 civilians from Silwan, south of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, when they were in al-Aqsa Mosque’s yards in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, and took them to one of the detention centers in the city. The arrestees were identified as Sufian Nidal al-Natsheh (19) and Hamza Zuhair al-Rajabi (19).

• At approximately 12:45, IOF stationed at Huwara military checkpoint, southeast of Nablus, arrested Ali Hashem Dwaikat (21), from Beita village. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 14:00, IOF stationed at checkpoint (65) established on the entrance to the closed Shuhada Street in Hebron arrested Ma’moun Hasan al-Natsheh (16) while crossing the checkpoint.

• IOF carried out an incursion in Ya’bad village, southwest of Jenin. No arrests were reported.

Sunday, 23 May 2021:

• At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into al-Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Khalil Kamal Abu al-Hawa’s (19) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Beit Hanina, north of occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Shady Sa’d al-Mtawar’s (44) house, the Secretary of Fatah movement in Jerusalem, and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Balata al-Balad village, east of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Ibrahim Mohammed Dwaikat (20).

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Askar village, adjacent to Amman Street, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Bara’ Ramzi Dwaikat’s (22) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:15, IOF moved into Azzun village, east of Qalqilya. They raided and searched Mustafa Ahmed Mansour’s (17) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Qabatia, southeast of Jenin. They raided and searched Saif al-Dein Abdul Rahman Nazzal’s (36) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Ya’bad, southwest of Jenin. They raided and searched Tareq Mohammed Qabha’s (22) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Wadi al-Joz neighborhood, east of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched two houses belonging to the activists Fadi Abdullah Mtawar (46) and Nour Saleem al-Shalabi (23), and arrested them.

• At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Kafr Dan village, west of Jenin. They raided and searched Fo’ad Nayef Kamamji’s (56) house and arrested him along with his sons, Sha’s (22), Emad (32), Majd (27) and Muharram (31), to pressurize his son, Ahed (26), to surrender himself.

• At approximately 09:00, IOF stationed at Za’tara military checkpoint, southeast of Nablus, arrested Mohammed Ali Hamajna (22), from Jenin refugee camp, west of Jenin. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 10:00, IOF moved into al-Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (3) children; Mustafa Ahmed Abu al-Hawa (17), Mustafa Ashayer (17) and Ra’ed Hazem al-Sayyad (16). Meanwhile, IOF handed Ameer Hazem Abu al-Hawa (19) and Dawoud Mahmoud Abu al-Hawa (19) summonses to refer to the Israeli Intelligence Services.
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• At approximately 10:30, IOF moved into Shufa village, east of Tulkarm. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Fathi Ma’zouz Mousa (22), and his brother, Mohammed (20), and arrested them.

• At approximately 10:55, IOF arrested Abdul Rahman Kmeil (22), from Qabatiya village in Jenin, while passing through a temporary military checkpoint established on the entrance of Jit village, northeast of Qalqilya.

• At approximately 11:00, IOF and police reinforced with several military vehicles moved into al-Tuwani village, east of Yatta. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to al-Rab’i family, assaulted the residents and confiscated their cell phones. As a result, Deema Mohammed Fadel Rab’i (6) sustained bruises and was taken to Hebron Governmental Hospital. Also, IOF arrested Fadel Mohammed Rab’i, Belal Fadel Ahmed Rab’i and Mafdi Ahmed Rab’i.

• At approximately 16:00, IOF moved into Ras al-Amud neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Mohammed al-Bazlamit’s (17) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 22:00, IOF moved into al-Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Nour Abu Jom’a and Anas Abu Sami, and arrested them.

• IOF carried out (5) incursions in Bayt Ula, Tarqumiyah, Beit Ummar, Fawwar refugee camp and Karma villages in Hebron. No arrests were reported.

Monday, 24 May 2021:

• At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into several neighborhoods in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (5) civilians, including a child. The arrestees are: Waheed Marwan al-Bakri (25), Mohammed Jawdat al-Shawish (26), Ibrahim Abu Sneina (22), Mohammed Isma’el Hushiyah (17) and Wadea Hushiyah (18).

• Around the same time, IOF moved into al-Walaja village, northwest of Bethlehem. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (4) civilians; Mohammed Isma’el Mousa al-A’raj, Fadi Mahmoud Rabah, Mohammed Nabil Abu al-Teen, and his brother, Mahmoud.
• At approximately 01:30, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into al-Tabqa village, south of Dura, southwest of Hebron. They raided and searched 2 houses and handed Adel Musaiaf al-Atrash (41) a summons to refer to the Israeli Intelligence Services in “Gush Etzion” settlement, south of Bethlehem.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF reinforced by several military vehicles moved into Beit Kahil, north of Hebron. They raided and searched Sa’eed Maher Asafra’s (26) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron. They raided and searched Mohammed Yousef Khudair Awad’s (22) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Ras al-Amud neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Mohammed Majeed al-Zughul (19) and Ahmed Younis al-Ghoul (22), and handed Mohammed Ali al-Ghoul (17) a summons to refer to the Israeli Intelligence Services in Mascovia investigation center in West Jerusalem.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Bait Fajar village, south of Bethlehem. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (3) civilians; Khattab Ibrahim Thawabtah (24), Sa’oud Faisal Thawabtah (30) and Mahmoud Ibrahim Balou (25).

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Qabalan village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Naser Khaled Abu Zeina (20).

• At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Isawiya village, southeast the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Faris Ra’fat Dari (23) and Oday Ahmed Dari (24), and arrested them.

• At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Shu’afat neighborhood, north of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (4) civilians. The arrestees are: Naser Khader Abu Khudair (25), Adam Khader Abu Khudair (21), Mohammed Mansour Abu Khudair (22) and Ahmed Hasan Abu Khudair (21).

• At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Silwan, south of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to ‘Arrabi Sadeq Ghaith (19) and Khaled Waleed Shwaiky (20), and arrested them.

• At approximately 04:00, IOF moved into Kobar village, north of Ramallah. They raided and searched Mus’ab Saher al-Barghouthi’s (27) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Dura al-Kari’a village, north of Ramallah. They raided and searched Ahmed Ra’fat Yaseen’s (22) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Jericho. They raided and searched Husam Isma’el Abu Dahouk’s (23) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 04:30, IOF stationed at Bab Huta, one of the Aqsa Mosque’s gates in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City arrested Ehab Mohammed Iskafi (18), while entering the mosque. IOF took him to one of the detention centers in the city.

• At approximately 07:00, IOF severely beaten and arrested Nidal Hamad Abu Diab (46) and his son, Mohammed (24), from Jerusalem’s Old City, while heading to their workplace in the city. IOF took them to unknown destinations.

• At approximately 08:00, IOF moved into the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Malek Basem Asaliya’s (20) house and handed him a summons to refer to the Israeli Intelligence Services at the Moscovia interrogation center in West Jerusalem.

• At approximately 10:00, IOF moved into Jabel al-Mukaber village, southeast of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Mohammed Ahmed Mashahera’s (27) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 11:00, IOF moved into Bab Huta neighborhood, one of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City’s neighborhoods. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Husam Ghunaim (21) and Bashar al-‘Ajlouni (19), and arrested them.

• Around the same time, IOF severely beaten and arrested Mo’ath Adel al-Kaswani (20) after stopping his vehicle on Salah al-Dein street in the occupied East Jerusalem. IOF took him to one of the detention centers in the city.

• At approximately 12:00, IOF moved into al-Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Ali Waleed al-Sayyad’s (22) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 15:00, IOF arrested (5) civilians while present near Jabal al-Madaris in Hizma, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. The arrestees are: Mohammed Ahmed Abu Khalil, Hussain Owad Sbeih, Mahmoud Owda Sbeih, Adam Hasan Abu Khalil and Mahran Mahmoud Owda Sbeih.

• At approximately 16:00, IOF moved into Shaikh Jarrah neighborhood, north of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Mohannad Issa Abu Ta’a’s (48) house and arrested him along with his son, Issa (20).

• At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into Beit Hanina neighborhood, north of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Basam Mazen al-Keswani’s (10) house, enticing fear among the children, and arrested him, as IOF claimed that al-Keswani was throwing stones at a settlement outpost in the city. A recorded video went viral on social media, showing a 5-year-old girl, Ruba, crying and pleading the Israeli soldiers to release her cousin, Basam, by saying “We will never do this again, leave him, I am scared that you will take him and he never comes back to play with me… when his father come, you will release him right?”

• At approximately 19:00, IOF stationed at Mevo Dotan military checkpoint, southwest of Jenin, arrested Islam Isam Abu al-Hija (23), from al-Yamun, west of Jenin. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

• IOF carried out (5) incursions in Sa’ir, Aroub refugee camp, Hasaka area and Kharsa villages in Hebron; and Tell village in Nablus. No arrests were reported.

Tuesday, 25 May 2021:

• At approximately 00:30, IOF moved into al-Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Mohammed Hatem Abu al-Hawa’s (19) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF reinforced by several military vehicles moved into the southern entrance to Hebron. They raided and searched Osaid Zuhair Zaheda’s (29) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Bait Duqu village, northwest of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Mohammed Mustafa Dawoud’s (25) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Nablus. They raided and searched the house of a candidate on the “Jerusalem is Our Destination” electoral list, Yaser Ibrahim Badrasawi (52), on al-Quds Street, and arrested him.

• At approximately 05:00, IOF moved into Jaba’ village, south of Jenin. They raided and searched Ammar Ibrahim Hamamra’s (27) house and arrested him. Also, at approximately 09:30, IOF stationed at Za’tara military checkpoint, southeast of Nablus, arrested his brother, Murad (35), and took him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 10:00, IOF arrested Mahdi Hatem Abu Asab (18), when he was in Bab al-Amoud area in occupied East Jerusalem, and took him to one of the detention centers in the city.

• At approximately 14:00, IOF arrested Mahmoud al-Jundi (29) while walking on al-Wad Street in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 16:00, IOF reinforced by several military vehicles moved into al-Tuwani village, east of Yatta, south of Hebron governorate. They raided and searched Osama Fadel Rab’i’s (28) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 16:00, IOF arrested Khaled Rab’i (32), from Shu’afat refugee camp, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem, while present at his workplace in the occupied city. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 18:00, IOF moved into Bab Huta neighborhood, one of the occupied Jerusalem’s Old City’s neighborhoods. They raided and searched Wisam Mohammed Thalji Sidir’s (28) house and arrested him. It should be noted that IOF severely beat him that required to refer him to the hospital to receive treatment while handcuffed and under arrest.

• At approximately 20:00, IOF moved into Issawiya village, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Rasheed Mohammed Darwish’s (19) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 22:00, IOF moved into Shu’afat refugee camp, northeast the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Mohammed al-‘Ammouri’s (24) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 22:00, IOF moved into Bir al-Basha village, south of Jenin. They raided and searched Saddam Basem Ghawadra’s (30) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 22:30, IOF stationed at a temporary military checkpoint established at the entrance to “Ofra” settlement, east of Ramallah, arrested 4 civilians while crossing the checkpoint, and released them later. The arrestees were: Muntaser Abdul Raheem Abdul Baset (19), Obada Zain Hmaid (20), Mohammed al-Qadi (20) and Omar Wael Hmeid (19), from al-Mazra’a al-Sharqiya village, east of the city.

• IOF carried out (5) incursions in Beit Ummar, Sa’ir, Tarqumiyah and Dhahiriya villages in Hebron; and Asira al-Qibliya village, southeast of Nablus. No arrests were reported.

Wednesday, 25 May 2021:

• At approximately 01:30, IOF reinforced by several military vehicles moved into Abu Katila neighborhood in Hebron. They raided and searched Lo’ay Ali al-Hashlamoun’s (39) house, but no arrests were reported.

• At approximately 03:30, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into al-Harayiq area in Hebron. They raided and searched Tareq Anwar D’ais’s (40) house, but no arrests were reported.

• At approximately 04:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into the southern area of Hebron. They raided and searched 3 houses belonging to Maher Ali Barqan, Taher Mahmoud Barqan and Awni Ayed Abu Hadid, but no arrests were reported.
• At approximately 04:25, IOF moved into Tayasir village, east of Tubas. They raided and searched Zahi Ahmed Abu Ali’s (47) house and arrested him.

• IOF carried out (3) incursions in al-Hadab and Nuba villages in Hebron; and Tubas. No arrests were reported.

III. Settlement Expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem

Settler attacks on Palestinian civilians and their property

• On Sunday dawn, 23 May 2021, a group pf settlers from “Havat Ma’on” settlement outpost established on the Palestinian lands of eastern Yatta, south of Hebron, moved into Kherbet Sarourah and burnt a cave used by Palestinian and international activists to protect farmers and shepherds from the settlers’ attacks. It should be noted that the cave was repaired and furnished by the activists 2 years ago.  The Settlers also burnt a field of winter crops belonging to al-Hreini family in al-Samrah area.

• On Sunday morning, 23 May 2021, a group of settlers stormed al-Aqsa Mosque yards in occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City via al-Magharbah Gate, under the IOF’s intensive protection and amid intense tension prevailing the mosque and its surrounding only 2 days after the cease fire was declared in the Gaza Strip and cease of such raids over the past 3 weeks.

Jewish extremist groups called for raiding al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, 23 May 2021, via posts and ads published on social media; thus, IOF intensified its measures and presence of its members in the vicinity of al-Aqsa Mosque and at its gates.  Moreover, they banned the entry of crowds of muslim worshippers into the mosque in order to perform the dawn prayer and pushed and beat them up.  IOF then allowed them to enter on one condition that they hand their ID cards at the gates to the police officers.  When the settlers raided the mosque at 7:00, tension broke out in its yards and IOF forcibly kept the worshipers away from the al-Qibli Mosque and beat them up.  They banned them from chanting slogans or saying Allahu Akbar or even using their cameras or phones.  They beat one of the worshippers and confiscated his cell phone after he documented the setters’ raid.  During the 2 tours, which 250 settlers participated in and continued until 14:30 instead of their usual time at 13:30, IOF arrested 9 Palestinians, including a girl and 4 Islamic Endowments officers in al-Aqsa Mosque, its surrounding and at the gates.  The arrestees were identified as: Fadi ‘Ali ‘Alian, al-Aqsa Mosque’s guard, ‘Issa al-Dabbagh and Basem Zughayer, the Reconstruction Committee’s officers; ‘Ali Wazouz, an officer at the Manuscripts Department; Ashwaq Rasem ‘Abdul Wahad, ‘Issa ‘Arabat, Anas Mohammed Abu al-Hummus; Mahmoud al-Shakhshir; ‘Omer Fawzi Muheisen.

It should be noted that IOF held the ID cards of 30 civilians, who tried to confront the settlers’ raids into al-Aqsa Mosque and referred them to al-Qashlah police station after refusing to hand their ID cards.   Lawyer Sanaa’ al-Dweik said in this regard that the Israeli authorities handed 13 Palestinians decisions to ban their entry into al-Aqsa Mosque for a week after the Israeli police and intelligence officers held their ID cards before entering al-Aqsa Mosque.  They were then handed summonses for interrogation.  After interrogating and detaining them for hours at al-Qashlah detention center in Bab al-Khalil in East Jerusalem, they were released on condition that they would be banned entry into al-Aqsa Mosque for a week and would attend again for interrogation in case the entry ban decision would be extended.  

• At approximately 15:40 on Sunday, a group of settlers along with 60 cows moved into Qana Valley area in Deir Istiya village, north of Salfit. After the farmers attempted to prevent the settlers from raiding their planted lands, settlers heavily fired rubber-coated bullets, sound bombs and teargas canisters at the farmers. As a result, 6 of the farmers suffocated and were taken to Darwish Nazzal Hospital in Qalqiliya.  The settlers broke windows of 5 vehicles belonging to civilians who ariived at the area after calls via loudspeakers to protect the farmers.  The settlers’ attack continued for 5 consecutive hours, including completely closing the area, detaining the farmers and assaulting the vehicles, which belong to Sa’id ‘Ali Sa’id Yadan, Bilal Khader Mansour, Nafez Khader Mansour and Mohammed Hasan Mansour.

• At approximately 23:00 on Sunday, a group of settlers from “Kiryat Arbaa” settlement, east of Hebron, threw stones at houses belonging to Abu S’eifan Family in al-Hussein Valley area next to the settlement. No casualties were reported.

• On Monday morning, 24 May 2021, a group of settlers from “Beit Hagai” settlement damaged 30 olive seedlings, planted 5 years ago, and uprooted 100 one-year-old olive seedlings in Ar-Rihiya village, south of Hebron. Those seedlings belonged to Mohammed ‘Issa Halayqah (62).

Closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement of persons and goods:

The Gaza Strip:

Although a ceasefire was reached on Friday, 21 May 2021, the Israeli authorities continued to close Kerm Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossings and the sea, banning entry of goods, food supplies or fuel, tightening the closure that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2006.

On Tuesday, 25 May 2021, IOF reopened the Kerm Abu Salem Crossing for the entry of humanitarian supplies, including medical equipment, food, medicines, fuel for private sector, and continued to ban exportation of Gaza Strip’s goods.  IOF also partially reopened the Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing to allow the travel of patients to receive life-saving treatment along with intentional workers and foreign journalists.

The Gaza Strip still suffers the worst closure in the history of the Israeli occupation of the oPt as it has entered the 14^th consecutive year, without any improvement to the movement of persons and goods, humanitarian conditions and bearing catastrophic consequences on all aspects of life.

The West bank:

• In addition to 108 permanent checkpoints and closed roads, this week witnessed the establishment of more temporary checkpoints that restrict the movement of goods and individuals.  IOF established 58 temporary checkpoints, where they searched Palestinians’ vehicles, checked their IDs and arrested 10 of them. IOF tightened their measures against individuals’ movement at military permanent checkpoints and closed some of them many times for hours.

Jerusalem:

• On Thursday, 20 May 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the northern entrance to al-Ram village, at the entrance to Biddu village and near the Qalendia village bridge, north of occupied East Jerusalem.
• On Tuesday afternoon, 25 May 2021, IOF closed Qalendia Checkpoint and banned movement but later reopened it.

Bethlehem:

• On Thursday 20 May 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the western entrance to Beit Fajjar village, south of Bethlehem, and was re-established next day and on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
• On Saturday, 22 May 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the southern entrance to Gibeah village and at the main entrance to Marah Rabah village, south of Bethlehem.

Ramallah:

• On Thursday, 20 May 2021, IOF established a checkpoint near ‘Atara Village Bridge.
• On Friday, 21 May 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Deir Abu Mash’al and Umm Safa villages in addition to near ‘Attara Village Bridge.
• On Saturday, 22 May 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Deir Ibzi and Shuqba villages in addition to near ‘Attara Village Bridge.
• On Sunday, 23 May 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Beitin, Sinjil and Abu Mash’al villages.
• On Monday, 24 May 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the entrances to Ras Karkar village- ‘Ein Ayoub area and Sinjil village.
• On Wednesday, 26 May 2021, IOF closed the electric detector established at the western entrance to ‘Aboud village, northwest of Ramallah.

Jericho:

• On Thursday, 20 May 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the southern entrance to Jericho and in al-Khan al-Ahmar area (on the main road between Jericho and occupied Jerusalem.)
• On Friday, 21 May 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the southern entrance to Jericho.
• On Saturday, 22 May 2021, IOF established at al-Hamra checkpoint, north of Jericho tightened its military measures and hindered civilians” movement at the checkpoint by including searching their vehicles and checking their ID cards.
• On Sunday, 23 May 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the northern entrance to Jericho.

Nablus:

• On Friday, 21 May 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the intersection of Einabus village, southeast of the city.
• On Saturday, 22 May 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance to Madama village, southeast of Nablu. IOF also closed with sand berms and cement cubes the entrance to Beita village, southeast of the city.
• On Sunday, 23 May 2021, IOF established a checkpint at the intersection of “Shafi Shimron” settlement, northwest of the city.
• On Monday, 24 May 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the intersection of “Shafi Shimron” settlement, at the entrance to Aqraba village, southeast of Nablus.
• On Tuesday, 25 May 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the intersection of “Shafi Shimron” settlement, at the entrance to Awarta village, southeast of Nablus.

Hebron:

• On Thursday, 20 May 2021, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the entrances to Idhna, as-Samu and Ash-Shuyukh villages, and at the southern entrance to Hebron.
• On Friday, 21 May 2021, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the entrances to Beit Ummar and Beit Awwa villages, at the western entrance to Hebron, and at the southern entrance to Halhul city.
• On Saturday, 22 May 2021, IOF established 5 checkpoints at the entrances to Idhna, ad-Dhahiriya, Beit Awwa, and al-Jalajel villages, at the entrance to Al-Arroub refugee camp.
• On Monday, 22 May 2021, IOF established 5 checkpoints at the entrances to Beit Sa’ir, eastern Dura, southern Halhoul, and Idhna villages.
• On Tuesday, 25 May 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the entrances to Idhna village and al-‘Aroub refugee camp.
• On Wednesday, 26 May 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to al-Fawwar refugee camp, southern Hebron and Sa’ir village.

Qalqilya:

• At approximately 10:55 on Tuesday, 24 May 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints under Azzun village’s bridge and at the eastern entrance to the city.

Gaza Resistance Resumes Producing Thousands of New Missiles

02/05/2021

Source

By Staff, Agencies

A senior official from Palestinian Hamas resistance movement said factories in the Gaza Strip resumed their mission to produce thousands of new missiles.

Fathi Hammad, a Hamas Political Bureau member said on Sunday that the Palestinian Resistance resumed producing thousands of missiles in their factories and workshops so as to stop Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aggression in the occupied holy city of Al-Quds and Tel Aviv.

The option of war against ‘Israel’ and its discriminatory measures against the Palestinians is still on the table, Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar in Gaza also stressed on Sunday, adding, “But the Palestinians are not looking for war because war has heavy costs.”

“This war, however, will continue forever because the ‘Israeli’ regime is occupying our lands and displacing our people and continuing to kill them”, he added.

Earlier this month, Gaza rose up in protest against the Zionist regime’s escalation against Palestinian worshipers and protesters in the ‘Israeli’-occupied West Bank, including the holy city of al-Quds. The occupation regime confronted the protest wave by taking Gaza under a 12-day-long war.

In retaliation, the Palestinian resistance began responding on the same day that the war started by taking the occupied territories under incessant rocket barrages. More than 4,000 rockets were fired during the reprisal, with the projectiles flying as far as al-Quds, Tel Aviv, and even the cities of Haifa and Nazareth that lie in the northern part of the occupied territories.

The retaliation that turned out unprecedented in terms of range and decisiveness, forced the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime to request a ceasefire 12 days after the aggression started.

The war had, meanwhile, martyred around 253 Palestinians, including 66 children, 39 women, and 17 elderly people, wounding some 1948 others.

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Syrians filled the polling stations to defend their sovereignty and now fill the streets to celebrate the result

28 May, 2021, RT.com

-by Eva K Bartlett

The Western leadership and establishment media have once again derided the Syrian presidential vote, but the people don’t care. They’re too busy celebrating the outcome of the election and the defeat of terrorism in their country.

The irony of media outlets and pundits from America tweeting about what they view as the failure to hold free and fair elections in Syria was not lost on some.

I wrote yesterday of the jubilation I saw in eastern Ghouta, where Syrians were celebrating the arrival of election day and proudly voting. I also noted that people “in eastern Ghouta were put through a hell that most of us, living safely far from war, cannot begin to fathom.” Back in 2018, I had seen their tortured faces shortly after their liberation. That made seeing them this week smiling incredibly moving.

Just ahead of the vote, I predicted there would be Western cynicism if President Assad won again, which would mean the West had failed in its regime-change project. I was right.

Syrian analyst Kevork Almassian, of Syriana Analysis, tweeted a thread about the mass celebrations around Syria, including in Homs, once dubbed the “capital of the revolution” by the delusional crowd, and Aleppo, the city the Western media said “fell” when it was liberated of the terrorists who reportedly murdered up to 11,000 civilians via their bombings and snipings.

He also noted that the media’s claims of Sunni Muslims hating Assad had no basis in reality (never mind the fact that the First Lady is Sunni, as are many in top leadership positions), tweeting photos of masses of Sunnis voting.

The Guardian, guilty of some of the filthiest war propaganda against Syrians, and usually reporting from Istanbul, deemed the 2021 elections “fake” and a “sham”. But the Guardian has never liked to give voice to the vast majority of Syrians in Syria, preferring instead to quote al-Qaeda-linked “media activists” and “unnamed sources”. So, it’s hardly surprising it would denigrate the event that Syrians are currently celebrating around the country.

Likewise, the BBC, another contender for the most outstanding war propaganda on Syria, unsurprisingly cited the “opposition” as calling the elections a “farce”.

The Western media likewise bleated “farce” when Syria provided 17 witnesses to testify at the Hague against the claims that Syria had used a chemical agent in Douma – a narrative that has been thoroughly debunked. And they’re still lying after all these years.

This outstanding report from Syria by Eva Bartlett penetrates the ‘iron dome’ of Western propaganda, also known as news.
It is about a chemical attack that never happened in a country attacked, subverted and blockaded in your name.https://t.co/AX1Zwbg0g0— John Pilger (@johnpilger) May 27, 2021

Speaking to Syrian media yesterday in Douma, Assad said of the West’s derision of the elections: “The best response to colonialist countries with histories of genocide and occupations was the mass turnout of the people for the vote.”

And, regarding what the West thinks of the legitimacy of those elections, he concluded: “Your opinions are worth zero, and you are worth 10 zeros.”

Amen to that.

On Wednesday, the government extended the time in which people could vote by an additional five hours, as they did back in 2014, due to the high turnout. It even had to provide more voting boxes. In fact, in 2014, in Lebanon, which hosts the largest per capita population of Syrian refugees in the world, voting was extended not merely by five hours, but by an entire day.

As I wrote recently, Western nations have closed Syrian embassies globally to prevent those eligible from voting. But interestingly, as I learned from political analyst Laith Marouf in our discussion this week, “Syrians in the US went to the embassy at the UN and voted. That was a direct challenge to American hegemony, since the Americans closed the Syrian embassy in DC. But there is still a Syrian embassy at the UN, and that they can’t touch, the Americans. So many people showed up at the UN headquarters, waving flags, and so on.”

According to Marouf, in Beirut, tens of thousands Syrians went to the Syrian embassy last week, but “members of the Lebanese Forces party cut the roads towards the embassy and attacked cars and buses carrying Syrian citizens,” allegedly killing one in front of his children and on national live television.

“The other two countries that host the majority of Syrian refugees or immigrant populations, Germany and Turkey, again blocked the Syrian votes from happening,” he said. 

Marouf spoke of the candidates, noting there were three: a leader of the opposition, a former minister, and President Assad.

“They have been vetted through security, making sure that they stand for the sovereignty of Syria, given that Syria has been living under a global war of terrorism, led by the US.”

On the ground on election day

I wrote on election day of the vibrance and peace I witnessed in Douma, and tweeted about the celebrations, about the Syrians singing and dancing.

One woman in Irbeen, a village in eastern Ghouta, told me, “Today is historic. He is writing victory, a renewed victory for Syria, the general and protector of Syria, Bashar al Assad. The people you see coming, do so by their free will.”

A side note: from the cross necklace she wore, I knew the woman was a Christian. The “rebel” terrorists the West supports and whose sadistic death cult they would have installed to govern Syria would have persecuted, even killed, women like her.

And that’s the crux of it: Syrians aren’t just celebrating the leader they overwhelmingly love and respect, they’re celebrating the defeat of this terrorism in their country and of the imperialists’ regime-change project in Syria.

A Syrian-American friend, Johnny Achi, flew to Syria expressly to vote in the elections. He told me: “I’m a Syrian citizen and have lived in the United States for about 30 years. I’m here in Damascus to exercise my rights and duties as a Syrian citizen, since the US chose to close our embassies. As long as the embassies are closed, we’re going to keep making the trip here, to exercise our duty and our democratic right.”

“I chose Douma, in eastern Ghouta, under the ‘rebels’ until 2018, to show that there is a big turnout here, that people are happy to be back in a government-controlled area. Everyone I talked to is so jubilant that they got rid of all of Jaysh al-Islam, Faylaq al-Rahman, and all those brigades that were making their lives miserable,” he said. 

In Achi’s view, the US would not have accepted any of the candidates, no matter who won.

“They decided that this election was illegal. Their excuse this time is how can you have a democratic election when you have land under occupation? But the land is occupied by Turkey and the US. If they would leave us alone, we would have freed those three provinces and would have all 14 provinces under Syrian control,” he said. “But this vote will help us liberate those provinces still under occupation.” https://www.youtube.com/embed/7DqvJwn3oLQ?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

The pundits will opine, the media will screech, but aside from addressing that, I don’t care, and Syrians don’t care because they’re too busy celebrating.

On Thursday, while the votes were still being counted, I passed through Umayyad Square, a massive roundabout in central Damascus, where a party was beginning. Later in the evening, I returned, staying until after the votes had been counted and Assad had been declared the winner. Electric doesn’t even begin to describe the mood of triumphant Syrians celebrating their victory.

I’ve been coming to Syria since 2014, making 15 visits in all, gathering many heartbreaking testimonies, being caught up in many dangerous encounters with mortars and terrorist sniper fire. I, too, celebrate the return of peace to Syria. But, moreover, I celebrate the Syrians’ shunning of Western diktats and for continuing to live their lives as they choose.

As I stood filming cheering Syrians, the results were announced. The crowd went wild and the party continued. Of course, Western media outlets won’t accept Assad’s 95.1% result, but those Syrians simply do not care. They know the West has lost the plot.

Stayed till after midnight, amazing energy. pic.twitter.com/RlCaWlXxf1— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) May 27, 2021

RELATED LINKS:

–Douma: Three Years On: How independent media shot down the false “chemical attack” narrative.

–Today I saw Syrians dancing and celebrating life, and a return to peace – but, of course, the Western media won’t report that

–Western nations want ‘democracy’ in Syria so badly they close embassies and prevent Syrians from voting in presidential elections

–It’s 10 years since the war in Syria began, and Western media & pundits are still eager to keep it going

–SYRIA: My Published Articles From and on Syria (2014-2021)

Hezbollah, IRGC, Hamas Established Chamber of Military Operations in Beirut during Israeli War on Gaza: Report

SOURCE

The editor-in-chief of the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, Ibrahim Al-Amin, said during an interview with Al-Manar TV Channel that Hezbollah, IRGC, and Hamas established a chamber of military operations in Beirut during the recent Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Al-Amin added that officers from Hezbollah, IRGC, and Hamas coordinated the military confrontation in Gaza, adding that the Commander of IRGC’s Al-Quds Force, General Esmail Qaani, visited Lebanon twice to attend the chamber meetings.

Hezbollah transmitted weaponry and ammunition to Gaza and moved a number of Palestinian Resistance officers out of the Strip during the aggression, according to Al-Amin.

The Islamic Resistance also provided the Palestinian factions with the needed data about the movements of the Israeli occupation military, which frustrated the enemy’s plot to ambush the Palestinian fighters near Gaza border, adding that drones were employed to reach this goal.

Had ‘Israel’ expanded its aggression, the entire axis of resistance would have confronted it.”

On May 10, 2021, the Palestinian resistance waged its battle against the Israeli enemy in response to the Zionist attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosue and plots to expel the Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Al-Quds, firing thousands of missiles at the Zionist settlements in most of the Palestinian cities and inflicting heavy losses upon the Zionists. The Zionist enemy insisted on its violations and launched an aggression on Gaza, killing 232 of its civilians and injuring around 1900 others. After an 11-day confrontation, the Palestinian resistance managed to defeat the Zionist aggression and provide Al-Quds City and its sanctities with a considerable protection from the Israeli attacks and violations.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

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Lost in (Hebrew) Translation

Lost in (Hebrew) Translation

by Gilad Atzmon

 Those who follow my work are probably familiar with the idea that there is no modern Hebrew word for peace (meaning harmony and reconciliation). The Hebrew Word Shalom (שלום) is interpreted in modern Hebrew as ‘security for the Jews.’ In Israel the reference to ‘shalom negotiation’ is construed as a premeditated set of conditions that guarantees ‘security’ for Jewish Israelis by means of: secure borders, disarmament of the Arabs, an American commitment to supplying arms to Israel, economic expansion and so on.   

It would be unreasonable to expect a culture that lacks a lucid notion of peace and reconciliation to lead the region towards harmony and human brotherhood. The truth of the matter is that even in the delusional heydays of the Oslo Accord, when some were foolish enough to believe that peace was about to prevail, the so-called peace enthusiasts amongst the Israeli decision makers (Shimon Peres & co) advocated the phantasy of a “New Middle East,’ a vision of a regional new order: an economic cooperation with the Jewish State at its very centre. The ‘dream’ of a ‘new Middle East’ entailed a coalition of so called ‘democratic states’ defying ‘Khomeinism’ by means of Western orientation and hard capitalism. Though the globalist agenda was clear to Shimon Peres, the one ingredient he managed to skip was the Palestinians and their prospects of returning to their land, orchards, fields, villages and cities.

Shalom in its contemporary Hebrew meaning, is a judeo-centric concept that is blind to otherness.

The recent conflict in occupied Palestine (especially the clashes in Israeli/Palestinian mixed cities) brings to light another crucial concept that has been lost in translation into modern Hebrew.

Often enough we hear from Israelis officials and Hasbara spokespersons about ‘Israeli/Arab coexistence.’ Yet, bizarrely enough, there is no Hebrew word for coexistence. While the English concept of coexistence refers to an harmonious and peaceful existence of two entities or more, the Hebrew word for coexistence is du ki-yum (דו קיום ). Du ki-yum literally translates as twofold – existence, it refers to two entities that live side by side. Du ki-yum sustains the differentiation and particularity of its elements. In du ki-yum the elements stay apart, separated or even segregated. The notion of du ki-yum practically sustains the binary distinction between the ‘Jew’ and the ‘Goy.’ While coexistence is a synonym for harmony, togetherness and assimilation, du ki-yum, defies the possibility of human brotherhood. It points at success in ‘conflict management,’ presenting a prospect of living ‘alongside’ rather than ‘together’.

I guess that at this point no one will be surprised to find out that there is no word in Hebrew for harmony either. The first Israelis, who worked day and night to revive their biblical language and rename every possible Latin and Greek concept, didn’t bother to find a Hebrew word for harmony. When Israelis refer to harmony they deploy the Latin word harmonia (הרמוניה).

When we attempt to delve into the prospect of peace in the region, we may have to accept that a culture lacking notions of peace, harmony and coexistence may not be able to lead the region towards harmonious and peaceful coexistence. If peace ever prevails between the river and the sea, it is because Israel has surrendered to accepting its meaning.

The Strategic Significance Of The Syrian Elections

25 MAY 2021

By Andrew Korybko

Source

Syria’s presidential elections signify the country’s victory in the decade-long Hybrid War of Terror and will help it transition towards its inevitable post-war future.

The Hybrid War of Terror on Syria isn’t yet fully over, but the country’s presidential elections nevertheless signify its victory. The entire purpose of that campaign was to forcefully remove President Assad from office, after which Syria would surrender its sovereignty to its neighbors, first and foremost “Israel” and Turkey. The country’s infrastructure and economy have been devastated by the humanitarian crisis that this conflict provoked, yet the Syrian people still stand strong. Although there exist some among them who despise their leader, the vast majority of the Syrian people still proudly support him, in some cases even more now after ten years of war than they did at its onset. That’s because many of them eventually realized that this is about much more than him personally, but the future of their civilization-state.

As it stands, Syria is presently divided into three “spheres of influence” – the liberated majority of the country, the American-controlled eastern portion beyond the Euphrates River, and the sliver of Turkish-controlled territory along the northern border that also importantly includes Idlib. Syrians in the last two regions didn’t have the chance to exercise their democratic rights since the occupying authorities naturally prevented them from doing so. In fact, they’ve made it all but impossible to reunify the country since the military situation is such that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) doesn’t want to risk a much larger war by attacking NATO forces there despite having the international legal right to expel the invaders. Resolving this dilemma will be among the top tasks facing President Assad during his next term seeing as how few doubt that he’ll win the elections.

I proposed some solutions in the analyses that I published back in February about how “Syria Should Talk With The US Since Its Iranian & Russian Allies Are Already Doing So” and “Balancing Regional Interests In Syria Is The Only Way To Reach A Compromise Solution”. In short, some form of decentralization granting broader political rights to the occupied regions might be a pragmatic means of resolving this dilemma, though of course, the devil is in the details so to speak. Iran’s military presence in the country, despite being legal and premised on fighting international terrorism there, is a major problem for the US. It’s unlikely that America will agree to any compromise solution so long as Iranian forces remain in Syria, but it’s also equally unlikely that Syria will ask them to leave, even through a phased but dignified withdrawal. Damascus depends on Tehran’s anti-terrorist support, and the Iranian presence also prevents Syria from falling under disproportionate Russian influence.

On the topic of Russian-Syrian relations, ties remain excellent and continue to diversify into other fields beyond the military one, but there hasn’t been as much progress on courting Russian businesses as Syria had hoped. The unilateral US sanctions regime acts as a powerful deterrent to reconstruction efforts, though these are unlikely to be lifted so long as Iranian military forces remain in the country. America seems to have realized that President Assad isn’t going anywhere since he genuinely enjoys tremendous grassroots support among the vast majority of his people so regime change no longer remains a viable policy option. Instead, the US will predictably seek to transition towards “regime tweaking”, or pressuring Syria to make certain political changes that accommodate American interests such as decentralization.

It’s unclear whether such a policy will succeed, especially remembering that Iran probably won’t be asked to withdraw from Syria, so observers can expect for this issue to remain unresolved for the indefinite future. That being the case, President Assad’s other top priority is to more comprehensively rebuild the liberated majority of the country. This will be difficult so long as the US’ unilateral sanctions regime and secondary sanctions threats remain in place, but progress could prospectively be achieved through a combination of Russian, Iranian, Chinese, and Emirati efforts. So long as their companies have the will to face possible American sanctions, which is admittedly questionable, they’ll be able to help rebuild Syria. As an incentive, Damascus could offer them preferential partnerships, but this still might not be enough for some of them to take that risk.

It’s indeed possible for there to be no political or economic breakthroughs in Syria anytime soon, in which case the country will continue to struggle but nevertheless continue making gradual progress in a positive direction. The only real security threats that remain come from ISIS sleeper cells, mostly outside the most populated areas judging by recent reports about their attacks. This will always be a problem and probably won’t ever be fully resolved considering the nature of the threat itself. Even so, the Syrian intelligence agencies and their allies will continue to infiltrate and dismantle such groups, but some will always evade detection until it’s too late. That, however, shouldn’t represent any considerable obstacle to Syria’s gradual reconstruction, but highly publicized attacks might dissuade all but the bravest international investors.

Another priority of President Assad’s next term in office will be encouraging his compatriots who fled over the past decade to return home and help rebuild their country. Some will decide not to if they retain political grievances or committed war crimes of course, but it’s expected that more Syrians will eventually move back over the coming years. The state will therefore have to continue supporting this special category of citizens, made all the more difficult by the never-ending economic crises caused by the US’ unilateral sanctions regime, but it also has a lot to gain in the sphere of soft power so it’ll probably do its best in this respect in order to show the world that the situation is normalizing. With time, and combined with possible investment incentives amid continually improving security, Syria might be able to turn the tide on its economic crisis.

Returning back to the lead-in topic of this analysis, the strategic significance of the Syrian elections, it can be said that they represent a new phase of normalization there. The last ones in 2014 took place during the worsening war, but this time everything is comparatively much better. The Western Mainstream Media will continue to delegitimize the Syrians’ exercise of their democratic rights, but policymakers will pragmatically realize that it’s a dead-end for them to continue agitating for regime change. Syria might even eventually repair some of its political relations with certain Western countries, not right away of course, but with time. Its political and economic challenges will likely remain unresolved for a while, but even so, the world should realize that Syria emerged victorious in the decade-long Hybrid War of Terror and that better days are surely ahead.

China Covers The Entire Middle East Through Iran

By Denis Korkodinov

Source

Israel and the United States, through their sanctions, pursued the goal of punishing the Ayatollah’s regime, but created a unique “window of opportunity” thanks to which China encompasses not only Iran, but the entire Middle East.

Iran continues to experience significant difficulties from a series of “strange incidents” that, if they do not directly indicate Israel’s involvement, then leave no doubt about who benefits from it. In this regard, it is logical to conclude that Tel Aviv and its partners turned out to be too far from their original goals: to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions and overthrow the Ayatollah regime. Beijing is becoming a key beneficiary of strategic omissions made by the administrations of Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden.

2010 was a turning point in the history of the anti-Iranian conflict. The era of cybernetic technologies began to replace the stage of active use of traditional types of weapons. Thus, Washington and Tel Aviv managed to introduce the Stuxnet computer virus into the Iranian nuclear program, thanks to which the countries of the “anti-Iranian axis” were able to quickly obtain information on the location of nuclear centrifuges used by Tehran, their capacity, structure and workload. More than 10 years have passed since then, and Iran has undoubtedly succeeded in cyber warfare (thanks, among other things, to China), as a result of which it can also boast of various “gadgets” introduced into the global computer system, capable of extracting top-secret information online from practically anywhere in the world and influence technological processes. For example, in May 2020, Iran, thanks to a virus attack, was able to disable the water supply system in a number of Israeli cities, which, in turn, provoked an Israeli reaction against the Shahid Rajai port located in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas (Hormozgan province) through which almost half of all Iran’s maritime trade passes.

Starting on June 26, 2020, the Islamic Republic was rocked by news of a string of fires and explosions at strategic sites, including power plants, refineries, ballistic missile fuel production centers and centrifuges for enriched uranium production. The Natanz disasters, for example, have led to power outages in cities such as Quds and Garmderra, which are strategically important because they have several underground military installations linked to Iran’s missile and nuclear programs.

It is worth noting that Tehran is not interested in recognizing all incidents as acts of Israeli aggression. After all, a strict secrecy regime prevents the Iranian leadership from disclosing information about the location of military installations, even in the event of an accident. In addition, in public space, Tehran would look extremely vulnerable if it recognized the effectiveness of Israel’s actions to inflict harm directly on the territory of the Islamic Republic. Consequently, all cases of damage were identified by the Ayatollah regime as minor man-made or natural accidents. And, despite the fact that these “accidents” indicate major problems in Iran’s national defense system, it is worth noting that American and Israeli actions are still not capable of not only destroying the Ayatollah regime, but also forcing it to abandon its nuclear ambitions. In addition, under the influence of sanctions in the Iranian political system, there has been a clear turn towards ultra-conservatism, since the current President of the country, Hassan Rouhani, is no longer able to meet the demand of 80 million ordinary Iranians for a decisive response to Washington and Tel Aviv. In light of this, it is quite obvious that following the results of the presidential elections in Iran, the victory will be won by a follower of the most radical direction in foreign policy, who will not hesitate when it comes to the possibility of unleashing a large-scale military conflict.

Tehran, despite the resistance of a number of countries, continues to actively interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors. This is dictated not only by the desire to find alternative ways out of the deep crisis, but also by the possibility of once again hurting Israel. In other words, the sanctions policy against Iran, implemented at the initiative of Washington and Tel Aviv, turned out quite differently from what its organizers had planned. Iran not only has not lost its regional influence, but has begun to look closely at China. Meanwhile, if Tehran’s interests in the Middle East cause shock in Israel and the USA, then Beijing’s interests there can also cause real panic in the entire Middle East Quartet (USA, EU, UN and Russia).

The Ayatollah regime has already signed a strategic partnership agreement with China. The term of this agreement was 20 years with the possibility of its extension. During this time, Beijing has pledged to invest over $ 400 million in the Iranian economy in exchange for 10 million barrels of Iranian oil a day. Among other things, China intends to help Tehran in the military sphere: provide modern types of weapons and exchange intelligence information. In other words, Israel and the United States, through their sanctions, pursued the goal of punishing the Ayatollah’s regime, but created a unique “window of opportunity” thanks to which China encompasses not only Iran, but the entire Middle East.

Subjugating Palestinians by State Terror and Intimidation

May 30, 2021

By Stephen Lendman

Source

Historic Palestine is stolen Israeli Occupied Territory.

Since establishment of Zionist tyranny in their homeland, Palestinians have been slaughtered, displaced, intimidated, humiliated, collectively punished, denied rights afforded Jews, and confined in Israeli gulag imprisonment.

All of the above and other forms of oppression are for being unwanted Arabs in territory Israel wants for exclusive Jewish development and use.

Since establishment of the Jewish state, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian men, women, youths and children were murdered, imprisoned, tortured and otherwise brutalized for wanting to live free in their own homes on their own land — what the scourge of Zionism criminalized.

Israeli tyranny denies them rights affirmed under international law.

Every day is Kristallnacht in Occupied Palestine.

Millions of subjugated Palestinians are collectively punished by racial discrimination, economic strangulation, mass arrests, detentions, curfews, roadblocks, checkpoints, separation walls, electric fences, other barriers, neighborhood incursions, crop destruction, fishermen attacked at sea, farmers terrorized in their fields, land, sea and air attacks, bulldozed homes, land theft, ethnic cleansing, gulag imprisonment, and slow-motion genocide.

Institutionalized Israeli state terror against an entire population of indigenous people is for the crime of praying to the wrong God.

Israeli state terror is an instrument of slow-motion genocide, subjugation and controlling Palestinians by brute force and intimidation.

Ongoing relentlessly for decades, it continues with no end of it in prospect because US-dominated Western societies support what just ones abhor and don’t tolerate.

Besieged Gazans suffer most of all. Trapped with no place to hide in a virtual Israeli free-fire zone, they’re terrorized at Israel’s discretion by air, land and sea.

Activist Hanin Majadli renamed Israeli Operation Law and Order mass arrests this month Operation Intimidation and Silence to punish Palestinians “who dare to protest” for rights denied them.

Israel criminalized speech, media, academic, and peaceful demonstration rights that are critical of apartheid injustice.

Netanyahu’s Operation Law and Order is all about enforcing police state harshness against Occupied Palestinians and Israeli Arab citizens — ones who dare protest for rights afforded Jews denied them.

On Friday, journalist Farah Najjar tweeted:

“ ‘They hit my whole body – my head, my arms, my legs,’ 13-year-old Mohammed from Umm al-Fahem said.”

“He is among (hundreds) of Palestinian children who have been targeted in the Israeli police’s so-called Operation Law and Order.”

Throughout Occupied Palestine and in Israeli Arab communities, an entire generation of Palestinian youths and children is victimized by Israeli state terror, intimidation, and gulag imprisonment.

They’re kidnapped, detained, tortured and otherwise terrorized in captivity — while the West and most other world community nations de facto support Israeli state terror by looking the other way and saying nothing.

Attempting to subdue public activism for long denied justice encourages more of it.

Palestinian youths and children convicted of stone-throwing face up to 20 years of gulag imprisonment.

According to Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), Palestinian youths and children, including ones engaged in peaceful protests, are prime targets for Israeli arrests and brutal mistreatment.

They’re also shot and at times killed by Israeli security forces — cold-blooded murder to intimate others against protesting for justice denied them.

In May alone, scores of Palestinian youths and children were violently arrested, detained and brutalized in captivity.

The scourge of Zionist tyranny operates against millions of Palestinians for not being Jewish.

A Final Comment

Anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel are unrelated to anti-Semitism.

Dominant hardliners in Israel and Washington falsely claim otherwise.

Zionism is tyranny by another name — a scourge threatening Jews and non-Jews alike. 

It’s extremist, undemocratic, hateful, ruthless, racist, destructive, and hostile to peace, equity and justice.

It’s contemptuous of fundamental legal, moral and ethical principles – a monster threatening everyone and everything it opposes, a cancer infesting Israel, America, other Western societies and elsewhere.

It considers Jews and others unequal, Muslims especially demeaned, Palestinians viciously persecuted and otherwise harmed.

In response to 11 days of Israeli war  on Gaza this month — along with brutalizing and mass-arresting Palestinians and Israeli Arab citizens for nonviolently protesting against Israeli ruthlessness — largely peaceful pro-Palestinian protests in US cities nationwide and in other countries included scattered incidents of anti-Israeli vandalism.

In response, a White House statement greatly exaggerated a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in defense of apartheid Israel —  falsely comparing incidents to persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Nothing remotely like it went on in recent weeks or ever before in the US and West when anti-Semitism was much more commonplace than now.

Calling for a halt in “despicable, unconscionable, un-American…attacks,” the White House ignored weeks of escalated Netanyahu regime state terror throughout the Occupied Territories and against Arab Israeli citizens.

Like many times before, the White House statement showed one-sided support for Israel and indifference toward the rights of Palestinians subjugated under the boot of Zionist tyranny. 

If ruling regimes in Washington and other Western capitals wanted to eliminate most expressions of anti-Semitism in their countries, they’d end political and military support for apartheid Israel — along with demanding accountability of their culpable officials in international tribunals.

Instead, they partner with and otherwise support the highest of Jewish state high crimes — their unacceptable actions fueling anti-Semitism instead of preventing it by doing the right things, according to the rule of law.

Greenlight: Israeli Military Weapons Keep Finding Their Way into Palestinian Organized Crime

By Miko Peled

Source

No one knows just how large an arsenal Palestinian crime families possess, but it is clear that it is dangerously large and that had these weapons been used to kill Jewish Israelis, or as part of the Palestinian fight against Zionism, Israeli authorities would have confiscated them long ago.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — When the names of the people you write about have to remain hidden, you know things are bad. The following story is a part of the Palestinian tragedy that is seldom discussed.

As 75-year-old Hajja Amina (not her real name) slowly crossed the busy street towards her home, she heard two gunshots ring out. When she turned around to see what had happened, she saw one man lying in a pool of blood and another running away. A few minutes later, already in the safety of her home, she heard a few more shorts. The two men who were shot were brothers; the shooter, a member of one of the most notorious crime families in Palestine.

As I was sitting with her and her two oldest sons in her living room, Jamil, her eldest, showed me photos of another killing carried out by members of the same crime family. A mother, her two sons and their uncle, who was a doctor, were all killed. Two of them tried to escape to the West Bank and were killed there. The Palestinian Authority apprehended the shooters and handed them over to the Israeli authorities.

In both cases, the police had the shooters in custody for a short time and then released them. The weapons used in the murders, the same type of semi-automatic rifles used by the Israeli military, were likely sold to them by Israeli military personnel.

No one knows just how large an arsenal these Palestinian crime families possess, but it is clear that it is dangerously large. It is also clear that had these weapons been used to kill Jewish Israelis, or as part of the Palestinian fight against Zionism, the Israeli authorities would have confiscated them long ago. As it is, “Arabs killing Arabs” is not viewed by the Israeli authorities as a problem.

Annual increase

According to a January 2021 report published in Hebrew in Ynet, close to 120 Palestinian citizens of Israel were murdered in 2020. According to the Jerusalem Post, in 2019 71% of the 125 homicide victims in Israel were Palestinian citizens of Israel. In fact, there has been a 100% increase in the number of Palestinian citizens of Israel killed in the past six years. The number of Jewish Israeli homicide victims during that same period has remained consistent and far lower, at around 35 victims per year.

The Jerusalem Post report quotes Dr. Walid Haddad, a criminologist who teaches at the Western Galilee College in Akka and who served in Israeli law enforcement for 15 years. Haddad said that the state does not arrest criminals who have illegal weapons, “even if it identifies them, because these criminals provide the police with information.”

Quid pro quo

Hajja Amina’s sons confirmed this. The police rarely intervene and, if they do, suspects are immediately released. “The crime families have immunity because they act as collaborators.” The Israeli intelligence service, the Shabak, is happy to give immunity to killers and drug dealers. These crime families have no problem providing information about other Palestinians to Israeli authorities. In fact, a sort of Zionist mafia, which makes up the State of Israel and Palestinian crime families, are working together to destroy Palestinian society.

Haddad further alleges that police distinguish between “security weapons” and “criminal weapons,” a distinction that has led to weapons proliferation. Again, Amina’s sons concur. If any of the victims were Jewish, the police and other defense agencies would be all over it and the weapons would be confiscated in no time. In fact, the same Israeli police have been able to fight crime in Jewish Israeli society very effectively.

A Palestinian woman whose relatives were murdered protests against organized crime in Tel Aviv, March 19, 2021. Oren Ziv | Activestills

Right now, Hajja Amina’s sons told me, you can purchase an M-16 assault rifle in broad daylight for $200 and, as long as the killing remains within the Palestinian communities, there is nothing to worry about from the authorities. There is payback and revenge that will go on for generations.

The sources of the weapons are known. Although some come from the West Bank, the majority come from within Israel. Only the Israeli military has possession of assault weapons and caches large enough to allow missing weapons to go unnoticed.

Israeli soldiers are given a weapon upon their conscription and that weapon remains with them even when they go on leave. Even though every soldier is warned to protect their weapon from theft, and that the penalty for theft is severe, these weapons make their way to the crime families.

Where there’s a will…

Over the last few weeks, Palestine was thrown into chaos by the misadventures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He and his gangs of terror correctly expected that violence would help to cement his chances of remaining in office. Palestinians responded in self-defense everywhere from Gaza Prison to the cities of Lydd, Ramle, Yafa, Haifa and Jerusalem. The violence was instigated wholly by Israeli civilian gangs, police and the Shabak, and the Palestinians who were defending themselves naturally suffered the lion’s share of the violence.

In the end, countless Palestinians were beaten by the authorities, detained, and had indictments brought against them. In some cases, Palestinians were charged with “security” offenses. This permitted the Israeli authorities to keep the “suspects” in detention and interrogate them without the ability to see a lawyer. Authorities fear that a lawyer might ruin their chances of getting a confession from a 14- or 15-year-old Palestinian who is being terrorized by his or her interrogators.

The arrests over the last few weeks were fast and efficient. In many cases, the authorities were able to extend the defendant’s detention for more than a week. In some cases, the charges included terrorism and being part of a terrorist organization, even though the Palestinians were the subjects of terror and acting in self-defense.

This goes to show that the Israeli authorities have no problem arresting, detaining and questioning suspects when they decide it is expedient to do so. But in the case of the crime families operating among the Palestinian citizens of Israel, it is clearly not expedient. Israeli police look on as members of the community are terrorized by criminals armed by Israel. Thankfully, this time Hajja Amina was fortunate and she and her family were not hurt by the violence around them.

Revealed: The American Money Entwined with Israel’s Jewish Terrorist Groups

May 28th, 2021

By Jessica Buxbaum

Source

The IRS states that terrorist activities are considered substantial means for disqualifying an organization’s tax-exempt status, yet money is still finding its way through a number of high-profile tax-exempt American charities to known terrorist groups inside Israel.

JERUSALEM — As Israel rained rockets down on Gaza in mid-May, inside 1948-occupied Palestine (Historic Palestine and modern-day Israel), another kind of Israeli terror emerged. Jewish supremacists stormed cities with high Palestinian populations chanting “Death to Arabs!,” attacking scores of Palestinians and vandalizing their properties.

The mob violence killed two Palestinian citizens of Israel, according to the Mossawa Center: the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel. And despite calls for calm, the attacks are ongoing. On Thursday, a Jewish mob dragged a Bedouin driver out of his car and beat him with glass bottles in northern Historic Palestine. Earlier, footage posted on social media showed Arab gas station workers lying on the ground after being surrounded and beaten by a Jewish mob in the town of Binyamina:

הלינץ׳ בצומת בנימינה אתמול. לא ראיתי אותו בפיד שלי עדיין.
האיש בחולצה האפורה והאיש בחולצה הלבנה מגוננים על עובר האורח החף מפשע מפני האנשים בחולצות השחורות. ניתן לראות אותו שקוע על הרצפה בסוף הסרטון pic.twitter.com/lxHUTB3ixj

— Naaman Stavy نعمان ستڤي (@NaamanStavy) May 13, 2021

הלינץ׳ בצומת בנימינה אתמול. לא ראיתי אותו בפיד שלי עדיין.
האיש בחולצה האפורה והאיש בחולצה הלבנה מגוננים על עובר האורח החף מפשע מפני האנשים בחולצות השחורות. ניתן לראות אותו שקוע על הרצפה בסוף הסרטון pic.twitter.com/lxHUTB3ixj

— Naaman Stavy نعمان ستڤي (@NaamanStavy) May 13, 2021

The American Jewish community condemned the wave of anti-Palestinian violence, under the assumption these attacks stem from the fringes of Jewish society. In reality, however, these Jewish supremacists receive financial support from a network of charities in the United States.

Jewish extremists organizing online

As the Israeli government orchestrated a bombing campaign on Gaza, right-wing Israeli activists were coordinating their own war-like operations online.

According to HaBloc, an Israeli nonprofit organization monitoring anti-democratic activity, tens of new groups have been created in the last two weeks on WhatsApp and Telegram. The number of participants in each group ranged from the tens, hundreds, and even thousands. About 22,00 people in total were active in these groups.

HaBloc’s observation of these ultra-right-wing groups reveals how they used social media to organize attacks in advance offline. The groups exchanged information, sold weapons like knives, bats, and pepper spray, used inflammatory rhetoric such as calling for revenge against Palestinian citizens of Israel and documented themselves rioting in the streets.

“This is far more than what’s happening on a daily basis within the far right in Israel,” Ran Cohen, co-founder of HaBloc, said of the extremist activity.

News media reported that the main groups behind the recent rampage were Lehava, a Jewish supremacist organization opposing assimilation and coexistence, and La Familia, a far-right group supporting the Israeli Premier League football club Beitar Jerusalem.

The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the public and legal advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel, has been monitoring Lehava’s activity for more than a decade.

“Lehava is an organization that claims to work against assimilation, but basically wants to create a Jewish-only space in Jerusalem and in Israel in general,” Rabbi Noa Sattath, IRAC’s director, told MintPress News. “In this last wave of violence, they were certainly instigators in several of the cases.”

Lehava leader Ben-Zion Gopstein arrives in court after being charged with incitement and terrorism in 2014. Mahmoud Illean | AP

IRAC demanded Lehava be labeled a terrorist organization in a letter sent this week to Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, and Head of the Shabak (General Security Service) Nadav Argaman.

Researchers within HaBloc, cautioned, though, attaching the violence to specific organizations.

“The role of Lehava in what happened is not direct,” HaBloc said. “It’s not like there was a central command and they’re sending people into the streets. It was really something that sort of spread out in a more organic way.”

“But the infrastructure and the ideology of Lehava is present and it contributes to what happened in the past few weeks,” HaBloc added.

The American charities bankrolling Lehava

Ben-Zion Gopstein is the leader of Lehava (or “flame” in Hebrew) and founded the organization in 2005. He is a notorious right-wing activist and disciple of Rabbi Meir Kahane, an American-Israeli extremist who founded the Kach Party, a political movement espousing racist beliefs.

After a brief stint in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in the 1980s, the Kach Party was banned from Israeli politics and deemed a terrorist organization by both Israel and the U.S.

Kahane called for the expulsion of Palestinians and Arabs from the Holy Land and advocated for the outlawing of marriage between Jews and non-Jews.

Four years after Kahane’s assassination in 1990, Baruch Goldstein, an ardent Kahane follower, opened fired at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron—killing 29 worshippers.

Kahane and Goldstein have become revered within the Israeli settler movement. Settlers have shared Kahane’s teachings on social media and have prayed at his grave.

Lehava is considered the successor to Kach, and Kahane’s racist ideology, Kahanism, runs deep within Lehava circles.

In addition to following right-wing interactions online, HaBloc’s research has also found a complex web of nonprofits in Israel and the U.S. connected to Lehava.

Lehava is not a registered charity in Israel so it can’t accept donations. Instead, money is funneled to Lehava through the Israeli nonprofit, the Foundation for the Salvation of the People of Israel, or Hakeren Lehazalat Am Israel in Hebrew. Israeli fund, Chemla or “mercy” in Hebrew has also been linked to Lehava until about 2014, according to HaBloc.

The Foundation for the Salvation of the People of Israel did not respond to requests for comment via email. The email address may be Gopstein’s as “benzion” is part of it. When contacted at the telephone number associated with the organization’s GuideStar (a nonprofit database) profile, the person said this was not the foundation and hung up. Contact information for Chemla is not publically available.

Two tax-exempt charities in the U.S. fund Kahanist activity in Israel: Charity of Light and the American Friends of Yeshivat HaRa’ayon HaYehudi.

Charity of Light funnels money to Chasdei Meir (which translates roughly into “charity which shines” in Hebrew). Chasdei Meir was named after Kahane, according to the fund’s website. As evidenced on Charity of Light’s tax returns, Chasdei Meir is related to the Chemla Fund. Charity of Light donated $72,000 to Chasdei Meir/Chemla Fund in 2018, according to its most recent tax filing.

Armed members of Chasdei Meir are shown wearing jumpsuits emblazoned with portarts of Meir Kahane

The American Friends of Yeshivat HaRa’ayon HaYehudi directly supports Yeshivat HaRa’ayon HaYehudi or the Jewish Idea Yeshiva, a Jewish education institution founded by Kahane.

“This is sort of the place for indoctrination of Kahanist ideology,” HaBloc said. “It’s where Benzi Gopstein studied and other prominent Kahanist figures.”

The charity gave $154,000 to Yeshivat HaRa’ayon HaYehudi in 2018, according to the most recent tax report. The yeshiva is even classified as a terrorist organization by the United States. The yeshiva’s dean, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer, is also part of Chasdei Meir. The yeshiva did not return a request for comment.

The nonprofits’ tax filings list Levi Chazan as the director of Charity of Light and American Friends of Yeshivat HaRa’ayon HaYehudi, and Steven Goldrich is listed as a director of Charity of Light and treasurer of American Friends of Yeshivat HaRa’ayon HaYehudi. Chazan was convicted in a 1984 bus shooting in the Occupied West Bank, which wounded seven Palestinians. Both did not respond to requests for comment.

HaBloc explained this entanglement of Israeli and American organizations is not directly supporting Lehava with monetary contributions, but rather aiding the network around it.

“The relationship between [Lehava] and groups that are funded with American money are two separate issues,” HaBloc’s Cohen said. “There are connections, of course, but we cannot say that these groups that were active in the last two weeks were funded with American dollars.”

Other financial players

The aforementioned charities are largely linked to Kahanism and Lehava, but other American foundations have also been tied to Israeli extremism.

The Traditional Fund gave $51,000 to American Friends of Yeshivat HaRa’ayon and $11,500 to American Friends of Chasdei Meir in 2018. The American Friends of Chasdei Meir is not listed in any available nonprofit database, however, Chasdei Meir’s website does name the American Friends of Chasdei Meir as its contact. The Traditional Fund did not respond to press inquiries.

According to T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, the Central Fund of Israel (CFI) funds Chemla and Yeshivat HaRa’ayon HaYehudi. The organization filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2018 to revoke CFI and the American Friends of Yeshivat HaRa’ayon’s charitable status on the grounds these groups are funding terrorism.

IRS charity law states that terrorist activities are considered substantial means for disqualifying an organization’s tax-exempt status. This is in accordance with engaging in illegal acts contrary to standard U.S. policy.

A litany of private foundations supports the CFI. Most notably, the foundations belonging to the late American billionaires Sheldon Adelson and Irving Moskowitz. The Moskowitz family foundations have contributed more than $8 million to CFI since 2018 and Adelson’s foundation gave $50,000 to CFI in 2018.

Jay Marcus of CFl said in a statement to MintPress News that, “The Central Fund of Israel absolutely rejects violence and does not support any organizations that promote violence. Furthermore, if an organization that we once supported ever started promoting violence, CFI would not support them in the future.”

Marcus claims that he hasn’t heard of Lehava, adding, “having had rockets indiscriminately showered down on my head, I would certainly disagree with your myth about which ‘groups start violence.’”

The Falic family, owners of the major retail chain Duty Free Americas, has supported The Fund for Saving the People of Israel in the past, providing a total of $60,000 to the association from 2007-2017. The money is wired through the Falic’s Israel-based foundation, the Segal Fund. The Falics could not be reached for comment.

Kahanism’s surge in Israel

Kahane’s Kach Party was banned from entering Israeli politics in 1988. But thanks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kahanists are now infiltrating the halls of the Knesset (Israeli parliament).

In the lead-up to Israel’s March election, Netanyahu pushed for a right-wing alliance with Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Kahanist, a defense lawyer for price tag campaigners, and leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party. Otzma Yehudit partnered with the anti-LGBTQ Noam Party and the National Union-Tkuma faction to form the Religious Zionism bloc in the last election. The coalition allowed the electoral list to secure six seats in the Knesset and for a Kahanist to gain political power. Rabbi Sattath pins the blame squarely on Netanyahu for Jewish supremacists’ rise in government.

A Jewish settler wears a T-shirt with the image of Meir Kahane near the city of Ramallah. Bernat Armangue | AP

“Because the prime minister was in such a dire situation and was desperate for every vote, he gave [Otzma Yehudit] the legitimacy,” Rabbi Sattath said. “What we’re seeing here in Israel and around the world is that one of the symptoms of democracies in decline is when the extreme right takes over the center right. The fact that the prime minister and some of the right-wing parties gave the Jewish Power Party legitimacy has then increased their power. And that’s what enabled them to use these methods they’ve used for over a decade on a large scale in the last wave of violence.”

Upon reflecting back to Kahane’s short time in the Knesset, Rabbi Sattath said he faced opposition from every politician and was immediately ostracized.

“When he got into the Knesset, he got the bare minimum [of votes] to get one seat. But what happened in the eighties was he was boycotted by every other Knesset member. Nobody would sit in the plenum when he was speaking,” Rabbi Sattath said. “Everybody from the left and the right understood that these ideas were dangerous and extreme and had to be restrained.”

Today, the political climate in Israeli politics is different.

“What we’re seeing now is that the restraint is completely over,” Rabbi Sattath continued. “And we’re hoping that by shedding light on the past weeks’ violence, we can return to the understanding that there needs to be a red line, that these violent militias and racist, Jewish supremacists have to be stopped.”

Phony History: Why There Will Be No Peace in Judea, Palestine, Israel or Whatever

By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor 

-May 30, 202102

No surprise to anyone, but there is no reliable history of the Jewish people.  It isn’t just them, when it comes down to history, everyone lies.  I have been on “government sponsored” tours of sites all over the world. 

I have had French tell me a Roman ruin from 100AD was built by a French king 300 years ago.  In Hungary, Roman ruins are dated a thousand years or more after they were built, to support a heritage that never happened. 

 Entire religions, entire historical epochs are erased, cleansed from history.  History is a liar.

Roman Ruins are Commonly ‘Borrowed’

The lies of history are peddled by universities funded by more liars, liars and thieves buying more lies from more liars and thieves.  In the last 20 years, television documentaries have debunked 75% of what we have accepted as history and done so with scholarship “above the norm.”

What is the “norm?”  A historical fact is any lie that has more than two people agree to it.  What historians call “fact,” any cop would call a “shaky alibi.”

There is no bigger historical liar than the history of Judea, the Roman province that now includes a state Jews choose to call Israel.

With a UN vote coming up that President Obama has already promised to veto, a vote giving what may actually be the majority from that region national rights they have been denied, we are talking about the Palestinians, there are suggestions for “talks.”

There can be no talks because there is no basis for talks.  Talks are based on ideas and understandings and the history of the region, be it from 1948 onward on since Exodus and the Egyptian escape, is all total bull, invented mythology made up to support wild claims or simply entertain.

Follow the Israeli Attack Arrows

Jews are told Palestinians are terrorists because of a version of the 1948 war that Israel teaches their people and is taught in America because of Israeli influence.  It is false.

The Suez Canal war of 1956 isn’t taught either.

Many incidents such as the Lavon Affair and the USS Liberty are simply erased because they don’t fit.

That Israel staged the 1967 war as a sneak attack on Egypt, done with considerable help from the US, Britain and France, is another historical secret as is the 1973 war when Israel was kept afloat by the entire military strength of the United States.

Why do you think the Arabs cut off America’s oil?

It was because America sent its military to defend Israel when the Arabs tried to get the land back that was stolen during the sneak attack of 1967?

If much of this is strange to you, you have an Orwellian education, meaning “no education  at all.”

We could start with 1948.  Palestinians owned Palestine along with some Jews and Christians.  Europeans of Jewish faith, armed to the teeth by the US, France and Britain, invaded and pushed the Palestinians off their land.  Fighting back is called “terrorism.”

The Zionist European Invasion Was Successful – American Intel Reported They Would Easily Defeat the Arabs

This is simple historical truth.  Problem is, until Israelis and Americans are willing to accept the real truth, they can never talk to anyone.  Who wants to talk to a deluded bigot?

It gets worse, not just for Jews.  Muslims and Christians are ‘full of it’ as well.

Lost Tribes – MarkChagall

First of all, there is no historical proof that any “Israeli” kingdom ever existed anywhere.  There is no proof, despite decades of “faith based” archeology, phony science, phony history and phony propaganda that Moses or Noah or Abraham ever existed.

In fact, the “holy texts” were long proven forgeries, invented to justify land theft, wild stories of angels and gods giving things away, wildly contradictory, childish in scope and unsupported by science, by evidence and even reason.  “They made it all up.”

What is represented as the “tribes of Israel” was a minor group of largely polytheistic tribes at war with each other and anyone, one of dozens of such groups, who disappeared from the sands of time.

Wild stories that talk of magical beings giving them land and power, not entirely different from the writings of Homer, don’t change that.  Homer wrote much better.

Things we know.  When the crusaders came to Jerusalem in the 1096, there were no Jews there.  There were lots of Christians, however.  You see, until 650AD, Judea had been entirely Christian, meaning everyone who lived there was Christian.

This was part of the Byzantine/Roman empire which had, controlled the region for many centuries.  Back in the early 300’s, Constantine legalized Christianity and, in the process, made it illegal for Jews to hold Christian slaves.

Lost Tribes – Salvador Dali

Why was this an issue?  Try finding out.  History erased all of that, the same history that parted the Red Sea.

Between 135AD and 350AD, Jews and Christians in the Middle East hated each other.

The Christians, most at least, had actually been Jews who converted.  It is part of that “Christ’ thing we call “Christianity” today.  You remember, the “messiah” thing?

History tells us that Jews fought the Romans during the first century, ending 73AD or so.  Then they all got on boats and went elsewhere in the Roman empire with a few staying behind.

However, there are no records of any of this.  No records of them leaving.  No records of them arriving.

No records of them living anywhere else.  No records of their traditions in the Roman empire, though, for instance, there were always Jewish settlements in each Roman city.

The old Jewish section of Rome is right off Via Arenula today.

What is a wild claim, however, is that Jews were expelled, moved to the Roman empire and ended up all living in Latvia, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Czechoslovakia and, mostly Russia.

You see, you couldn’t move there then.  The Visigoths and even nastier people ran those places.

Visigoths – They Did Not do Neighbors Well

They weren’t part of the Roman empire, never were.

There is no record of Jews leaving Judea, no record of them arriving in the Roman Empire at the time claimed, no record of them living there and no record of them all heading out to Russia and Poland, where 90% of Europe’s Jews had lived for centuries.

There is no historical record of any of this.

There is, however, a historical record of a people from Russia called the Khazars who converted to Judaism and created a great empire nearly as large as the United States.

The “Jewish areas” of Russia and Europe were the eastern portion of Khazaria.

One could assume that all Jews in Russia or Poland, just as Helen Thomas said, were from there and had never been from Judea.  We can prove Jews lived there as Khazars.  We cannot prove Jews moved there from Judea.

Does this mean that Jews from that region who, after World War II, chose to move to Palestine were bad people?  No, of course not.  What it does mean is that they never came from there.  Is that important?

Only if the wild and insane claim that a convenient mythology allows one people to steal from another. However, this is the nature of phony history, phony religion and mythology.  Jews from Russia and Poland look pretty much like everyone else from there.

Byzantine Mural – When Jews were Christians – Before They Were Muslims

Other points.  The most likely thing is that Palestinians were once Byzantine Christians and before that Jews.  Why?  There is no proof they came from anywhere else.

There is proof they have been where they are pretty much forever.  There is also proof that people who lived there were, at one time, Jews, then Christians and eventually Muslims.  Why change religions?

Governments created incentives for people to change religions, some involved taxes, others involved serious persecution.

This religious persecution in Judea went on for centuries, Jews persecuting Christians and, later, Christians persecuting Jews.

This was long before Islam existed. This is real history.

Before Muslims became “terrorists,” Jews claimed Christians were “terrorists.”

Then Christians said Jews were all “thieves” and “mongrels” and had killed Christ.  Can we prove Christ existed?  Actually no, we can’t.

However, the Gospels, such as they are, most burned, some horribly mistranslated, are something of a record, much more of a record than the wild discussions of Moses and “mana” and being lost in Sinai for 40 years.

Would any of it stand up in court?  Not for a friggin’ minute!

So, where does this leave us?

Palestinians are probably, by genetic definition, if such exists, the only real Jews.

Most Jews are probably from ethnic groups pushed into Europe, no different than every other migration.  The idea of claimed “immunity” to two thousand years of historical resettlement, religious realignments and the total lack of either archaeological or rational written records as a basis of decades of warfare is insane.

 We could just as easily be talking about the Phoenicians or Philistines or Hittites or Babylonians, the Greeks, the Ottomans or even Egyptians as having historical claim to Palestine.

Lord Balfour (left of pitcher) – Reception at the Tel-Aviv Municipality in 1925

Something we can come closer to proving is that a corrupt British politician named Balfour, back in 1917, loaded with gambling debts, wrote a short document to a wealthy and even more corrupt banker offering some kind of deal on land that he didn’t control.

This was during World War I.  Turkey controlled Palestine entirely, had for centuries.  There were Jews in the Turkish empire.  Turkey invited them there in the 15th century to help run things.  These Jews were, however, Europeans mostly, persecuted in Europe, where they had come to from, not Judea certainly, and welcomed to the Middle East by Muslims.

This is real history.

Britain had no right to cut a “deal” more likely tied to the kind of political payoffs and blackmail used to push President Obama into his humiliating speech to the UN.  The “Balfour thing” which is brought up continually had then and has now NO LEGAL STANDING WHATSOEVER.

Balfour could have been running the mortgage department at today’s Bank of America.

It is time that those that call themselves Israeli’s admit they are resettled Europeans like most of us here in America, taking advantage of a poorly armed and primitive population just as Britain, Spain and later the United States did in North America, like Europe did around the world during the colonial era, like one population did to another since time immemorial.
A few classes in Hebrew, discarding Yiddish traditions, doesn’t change history, it only erases heritage.

Supposedly “mechanisms” and “organizations” are in place, since 1945, to prevent such things.  A civil war in Libya was carefully orchestrated based on such mechanisms and organizations, an intervention under identical circumstances that exist in Israel or Syria.

Zionism in Action – Being a Light Unto the World ?

But the United States is defending Israel and Russia is defending Syria.

Thus, the great world powers, such as they are, have maneuvered the world through a century of atrocity.

This time the United States is attempting to justify prehistoric barbarism of the Israeli occupation of Palestine using language carefully crafted by “advisors” with the ethical and moral authority of  the worst criminal elements of our time.

Use of force to dispossess a people is ethnic cleansing.  Separating people by walls in apartheid.  An armed enclosure filled with men, women and children is a concentration camp.

This is Palestine today, what is called the “State of Israel.”  This is why an American veto is important because the rest of the world sees the truth.

We are asked to endure a century of warfare and economic chaos because of the desire by some to validate bizarre mythologies that are little more than a veneer for something darker.

Israel isn’t about Jews.  Israel is just another issue, strong strangling the weak, the clever controlling the many through deception.

Because of Israeli control of media, a few square miles of sand, some stolen and built with senior citizen vacation condos, some farmed by Asian slaves, much still barren and inhospitable, land no American would park an abandoned tractor on, is costing America and Europe a century of economic survival, costing generations of lives, all based on, not just mythology but a continuing stream of carefully crafted lies.

Settlement?  Talks?   Based on?

Ashkenazi Jews are Turkic Khazars

Khazaria – 600 to 850 AD

BIOGRAPHY

Gordon Duff, Senior EditorSenior Editor , VT

Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. He is a disabled veteran and has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades. Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.

Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.

Gordon’s Archives – 2008-2014

gpduf@aol.com

President Bashar Assad Delivers a Strong Election Victory Speech

 ARABI SOURI MAY 29, 2021

President Bashar Assad delivered his victory speech after declaring the presidential election results, the televised speech is full of strong words, messages to the Syrian people, their friends, and to their enemies, and vows to start a new constitutional term with more determination on completing the battle against the enemies and to rebuild the country.

In a televised speech, the Syrian President who was re-elected with a whopping 95.1% of the votes, sent several messages to his people and to the enemies abroad, charged with the strength and determination he received from the Syrians who proved once again their steadfastness to continue battling the regime change, occupation, and stealing of their riches by voting again to President Assad for a 4th term, the 2nd based on the recent constitution of 2012, and they voted in an unprecedented flocking to the voting centers all over the country challenging the terrorist threats and ignoring the comments from some western countries and their regional stooges as the approval of those parties is not required to determine who will be leading Syria.

The following is the video clip with English subtitles, followed by the full transcript in English, the translation is partly done by the Syrian News Agency SANA:

https://videopress.com/embed/308CarDz?preloadContent=metadata&hd=1

The video is also available on YouTube and BitChute.

The English transcript of the speech:

Dear fellow citizens, my brothers in loyalty and belonging (to Syria),

In each national entitlement, whether this entitlement was a defense by weapon, opinion, work, or a constitutional entitlement, you have always been making your special definition for the meaning of patriotism, and in every stage that we have been through, your definition has carried special messages, whether for the friend or the enemy, which stems from the conditions of that stage and suits its challenges.

And despite that your several messages didn’t lack, at any time of the war, the wisdom, eloquence, and clearness in their terms, and the deep meaning carried in its lines and in between the lines, but the enemies and opponents have insisted to avoid and deny them, as part of their policies based on denying the reality, denying the failure and defeat of the their policies, and not recognizing the deterioration of their principles and ethics, and they seemed during the latest years that they were infected with insanity… as they see through their eyes, but they don’t see through their minds.

In this entitlement (the presidential election), your definition of patriotism did not differ in its context but it differed in the way and manner, and it will inevitably differ in results and repercussions, your messages will penetrate all barriers and shields they have put around their minds, and it will shift their minds from the willful lethargy state they lived in for years to the coercive thinking state of what is happening on the ground.

What have you done during the past weeks was not a mere celebration in an occasion, nor was it an expression of patriotic emotion or enthusiasm, or adherence to a national duty which is participation in the presidential election; rather what happened goes beyond all that, in wide-scale and great distances. What you have done was a phenomenon of unprecedented challenge to enemies of the homeland of all their nationalities, loyalties, and dependences.

It has broken their false arrogance and pride, and was a slap on the faces of their agents, this challenge was on the highest level of expressing true and deep loyalty to the homeland, it was sending messages in the strongest terms to persons who were sitting in the dark rooms plotting schemes and intrigues dreaming of success at the expense of our blood, money, dignity, and honor, and who will mourn their misfortune again with their tools for their miscalculations, short-sightedness, and lack of understanding the reality and the nature and the essence of this people.

You have turned the scales and broken the game rules and undoubtedly affirmed that those rules are set and determined only here, and made here, and is specified here by our own hands, and that there is no place for partners except for the brothers and friends.

You have redefined patriotism, and this automatically means redefining treason, and the difference between them is like the difference between the so-called the revolution of rebels and what we have witnessed the agitation of bulls, it is like the difference between a rebel (Tha’er in Arabic) that absorbs honor and a bull (Thawr in Arabic) that fed with fodder, between a rebel whose way is honor and pride and a bull that is fond of disgrace and shame, and between a rebel who kneels to his creator and a bull who falls into prostration for the dollar.

You have defined the revolution and brought back its brilliance after part of mercenaries, who lack honor and bear a Syrian passport, have defamed its name, you’ve rescued the reputation (of the revolution) and you’ve relaunched it, so what happened were not celebrations, but rather a revolution in the true sense of the word, not metaphorical, a revolution against terrorism, treason and moral deterioration, a revolution of the tongue, pen, work, and a weapon.

A revolution entitled “honor” against every fallen who has agreed for himself to be a ride on which others can ride to take them wherever they want.

Brothers, gentlemen and lady citizens,

The people choosing me to serve them in the coming constitutional period is a great honor that only the honor of belonging to this people can live up to, not only in the identity card, but in the opinions, aspirations, values, and habits, and what increases my enthusiasm and confidence in future is the spirit of challenge you have, which without it, the bearer of the responsibility cannot face the largest national challenges, and without it a homeland cannot rise up after 10 years of war.

It is your potential strength, which appears in its clear form in the major milestones, provoked by challenges and transformed by your will into action and achievement.

It is the mighty energy that provides the nation with strength and prepares it for victory and triumph.,

I am confident that with this fighting spirit, we will be able to defeat all our enemies, no matter how many fights, and how much the horrors intensify.

This spirit is what we need for the next stage which is a stage of continuous work, resistance and steadfastness in order to prove to our enemies once again that fighting our people through their basic needs and livelihood, would not affect, but increase their commitment to homeland and all of what it represents.

And this people, at the major challenges and entitlements, has always proven that the country is above all.

Brothers, dearest ones, I greet every Syrian citizen who has expressed, through his/her own way, his love to the homeland in every city, town, and village, whether through rallies, popular gatherings, or other ways, I greet and salute every individual, family and tribe who have shown their utmost belonging to their country and raised its flag and withstood in the war and challenged in the entitlement.

I salute our citizens abroad who have integrated through their messages from outside with the messages of their brothers inside, where the far distance and obstacles have not prevented them from participating enthusiastically in the election, and to those who have not been able to cast vote under pressures or intimidation they exerted upon them, we say that your votes have reached, with doubled force, not through the ballot box, but through your stance, so the message has been delivered to the enemies and the patriotic mission has been fulfilled.

You’ve lived a proud people that does not accept dishonor, you’ve a proud people who does not submit to hardship and does not bow down to anyone but God.

Long live and long live Syria, free, honorable, strong, and invincible, peace and God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.

End of the English transcript.

This is the first time President Assad uses such strong terms to describe the terrorists acting as rebels in a revolution, describing them as bulls in Arabic and in the context he put is not a favorable description at all.

The Syrian president also raised the level of challenge against the west and described them as disconnected from reality, created their own vision, and blocked themselves from seeing the developments on the ground, ‘they’re infected with insanity,’ and they’re (the enemies of Syria are) ‘not recognizing the deterioration of their principles and ethics’, President Assad describing the likes of officials in the USA, France, Germany, and other countries which have tried to interfere in the Syrian presidential election

Syrian Presidential Election Conducted Around the World – One Voter Killed in Lebanon

President Assad and First Lady Asmaa Vote in the Liberated City of Douma

Kurdish SDF Terrorists Block Syrians from Voting in Presidential Election

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Israel, the Big Lie

Israeli leaders cannot fool everyone anymore with their stupid, mindless, pathetic, and impressively incoherent statement that they are just defending themselves.

By Jonas E. Alexis -May 29, 2021

…introduction by Jonas E. Alexis, VT Editor

Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, nails it: Israel has been perpetuating one categorical lie after another, and Israeli leaders don’t care whether they will be found to be hoaxers, fraudsters, and pathological liars.

The sad thing is that the US continues to send the regime at least $3 billion every single year. But as we have suggested in the previous article, people are waking up. Israeli leaders cannot fool everyone anymore with their stupid, mindless, pathetic, and impressively incoherent statement that they are just defending themselves. And once a person stands against their ideology, that person must ipso facto be an anti-Semite!

Anyway, two thumps up for Chris Hedges here.

Israel, the Big Lie

By Chris Hedges

Nearly all the words and phrases used by the Democrats, Republicans and the talking heads on the media to describe the unrest inside Israel and the heaviest Israeli assault against the Palestinians since the 2014 attacks on Gaza, which lasted 51 days and killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children, are a lie.

Israel, by employing its military machine against an occupied population that does not have mechanized units, an air force, navy, missiles, heavy artillery and command-and-control, not to mention a U.S. commitment to provide a $38 billion defense aid package for Israel over the next decade, is not exercising “the right to defend itself.” It is carrying out mass murder. It is a war crime.

Israel has made it clear it is ready to destroy and kill as wantonly now as it was in 2014. Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz, who was the chief of staff during the murderous assault on Gaza in 2014, has vowed that if Hamas “does not stop the violence, the strike of 2021 will be harder and more painful than that of 2014.”

The current attacks have already targeted several residential high rises including buildings that housed over a dozen local and international press agencies, government buildings, roads, public facilities, agricultural lands, two schools and a mosque.

I spent seven years in the Middle East as a correspondent, four of them as The New York Times Middle East Bureau Chief. I am an Arabic speaker. I lived for weeks at a time in Gaza, the world’s largest open-air prison where over two million Palestinians exist on the edge of starvation, struggle to find clean water and endure constant Israeli terror.

I have been in Gaza when it was pounded with Israeli artillery and air strikes. I have watched mothers and fathers, wailing in grief, cradling the bloodied bodies of their sons and daughters.

I know the crimes of the occupation—the food shortages caused by the Israeli blockade, the stifling overcrowding, the contaminated water, the lack of health services, the near constant electrical outages due to the Israeli targeting of power plants, the crippling poverty, the endemic unemployment, the fear and the despair. I have witnessed the carnage.

I also have listened from Gaza to the lies emanating from Jerusalem and Washington. Israel’s indiscriminate use of modern, industrial weapons to kill thousands of innocents, wound thousands more and make tens of thousands of families homeless is not a war: It is state-sponsored terror.

And, while I oppose the indiscriminate firing of rockets by Palestinians into Israel, as I oppose suicide bombings, seeing them also as war crimes, I am acutely aware of a huge disparity between the industrial violence carried out by Israel against innocent Palestinians and the minimal acts of violence capable of being waged by groups such as Hamas.

The false equivalency between Israeli and Palestinian violence was echoed during the war I covered in Bosnia.  Those of us in the besieged city of Sarajevo were pounded daily with hundreds of heavy shells and rockets from the surrounding Serbs. We were targeted by sniper fire. The city suffered a few dozen dead and wounded each day.

The government forces inside the city fired back with light mortars and small arms fire. Supporters of the Serbs seized on any casualties caused by Bosnian government forces to play the same dirty game, although well over 90 percent of the killings in Bosnia were the fault of the Serbs, as is also true regarding Israel.

The second and perhaps most important parallel is that the Serbs, like the Israelis, were the principal violators of international law. Israel is in breach of more than 30 U.N. Security Council resolutions.

It is in breach of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that defines collective punishment of a civilian population as a war crime. It is in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention for settling over half a million Jewish Israelis on occupied Palestinian land and for the ethnic cleansing of at least 750,000 Palestinians when the Israeli state was founded and another 300,000 after Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank were occupied following the 1967 war.

Its annexation of East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights violates international law, as does its building of a security barrier in the West Bank that annexes Palestinian land into Israel. It is in violation of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 that states that Palestinian “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”

This is the truth.  Any other starting point for the discussion of what is taking place between Israel and the Palestinians is a lie.

Israel’s once vibrant peace movement and political left, which condemned and protested against the Israeli occupation when I lived in Jerusalem, is moribund. The right-wing Netanyahu government, despite its rhetoric about fighting terrorism, has built an alliance with the repressive regime in Saudi Arabia, which also views Iran as an enemy.

Saudi Arabia, a country that  produced 15 of the 19 hijackers in the September 11 attacks, is reputed to be the most prolific sponsor of international Islamist terrorism, allegedly supporting Salafist jihadism, the basis of al-Qaeda, and groups such as the Afghanistan Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Al-Nusra Front.

Saudi Arabia and Israel worked closely together to back the 2013 military coup in Egypt, led by General Adbul Fattah el Sisi. Sisi overthrew a democratically elected government. He has imprisoned tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists and human rights defenders, on politically motivated charges.

The Sisi regime collaborates with Israel by keeping its common border with Gaza closed to Palestinians, trapping them in the Gaza strip, one of the most densely populated places on earth. Israel’s cynicism and hypocrisy, especially when it wraps itself in the mantle of protecting democracy and fighting terrorism, is of epic proportions.

Those who are not Jewish in Israel are either second class citizens or live under brutal military occupation. Israel is not, and never has been, the exclusive homeland of the Jewish people.  From the 7^th century until 1948, when Jewish colonial settlers used violence and ethnic cleansing to create the state of Israel, Palestine was overwhelmingly Muslim. It was never empty land.

The Jews in Palestine were traditionally a tiny minority. The United States is not an honest broker for peace but has funded, enabled and defended Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.  Israel is not defending the rule of law.  Israel is not a democracy.  It is an apartheid state.

That the lie of Israel continues to be embraced by the ruling elites–there is no daylight between statements in defense of Israeli war crimes by Nancy Pelosi and Ted Cruz–and used as a foundation for any discussion of Israel is a testament to the corrupting power of money, in this case that of the Israel lobby, and the bankruptcy of a political system of legalized bribery that has surrendered its autonomy and its principles to its major donors.

It is also a stunning example of how colonial settler projects, and this is true in the United States, always carry out cultural genocide so they can exist in a suspended state of myth and historical amnesia to legitimize themselves.

The Israel lobby has shamelessly used its immense political clout to demand that Americans take de facto loyalty oaths to Israel. The passage by 35 state legislatures of Israel lobby-backed legislation requiring their workers and contractors, under threat of dismissal, to sign a pro-Israel oath and promise not to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is a mockery of our Constitutional right of free speech.

Israel has lobbied the U.S. State Department to redefine anti-Semitism under a three-point test known as the Three Ds: the making of statements that “demonize” Israel; statements that apply “double standards” for Israel; statements that “delegitimize” the state of Israel.

This definition of anti-Semitism is being pushed by the Israel lobby in state legislatures and on college campuses. The Israel lobby spies in the United States, often at the direction of Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, on those who speak up for the rights of Palestinians.

It wages public smear campaigns and blacklists defenders of Palestinian rights–including the Jewish historian Norman Finkelstein; U.N. Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, also Jewish; and university students, many of them Jewish, in organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine.

The Israel lobby has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to manipulate U.S. elections, far beyond anything alleged to have been carried out by Russia, China or any other country.  The heavy-handed interference by Israel in the American political system, which includes operatives and donors bundling together hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in every U.S. congressional district to bankroll compliant candidates, is documented in the Al-Jazeera four-part series “The Lobby.”

Israel managed to block “The Lobby” from being broadcast. In the film, a pirated copy that is available on the website Electronic Intifada, the leaders of the Israel lobby are repeatedly captured on a reporter’s hidden camera explaining how they, backed by the intelligence services within Israel, attack and silence American critics and use massive cash donations to buy politicians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured the unconstitutional invitation by then-House Speaker John Boehner to address Congress in 2015 to denounce President Barack Obama’s Iranian nuclear agreement.  Netanyahu’s open defiance of Obama and alliance with the Republican Party, however, did not stop Obama in 2014 from authorizing a 10-year $38 billion military aid package to Israel, a sad commentary on how captive American politics is to Israeli interests.

The investment by Israel and its backers is worth it, especially when you consider that the U.S. has also spent over $ 6 trillion during the last 20 years fighting futile wars that Israel and its lobby pushed for in the Middle East.

These wars are the greatest strategic debacle in American history, accelerating the decline of the American empire, bankrupting the nation at a time of economic stagnation and mounting poverty, and turning huge parts of the globe against us. They serve Israel’s interests, not ours.

The longer the mendacious Israeli narrative is embraced, the more empowered become the racists, bigots, conspiracy theorists and far-right hate groups inside and outside Israel.  This steady shift to the far right in Israel has fostered an alliance between Israel and the Christian right, many of whom are anti-Semites.

The more Israel and the Israel lobby level the charge of anti-Semitism against those who speak up for Palestinian rights, as they did against British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the more they embolden the real anti-Semites.

Racism, including anti-Semitism, is dangerous.  It is not only bad for the Jews.  It is bad for everyone.  It empowers the dark forces of ethnic and religious hatred on the extremes.  Netanyahu’s racist government has built alliances with far-right leaders in Hungary, India, and Brazil, and was closely allied with Donald Trump.

Racists and ethnic chauvinists, as I saw in the wars in the former Yugoslavia, feed off of each other.  They divide societies into polarized, antagonistic camps that only speak in the language of violence.  The radical jihadists need Israel to justify their violence, just as Israel needs the radical jihadists to justify its violence.  These extremists are ideological twins.

This polarization fosters a fearful, militarized society.  It permits the ruling elites in Israel, as in the United States, to dismantle civil liberties in the name of national security.  Israel runs training programs for militarized police, including from the United States.  It is a global player in the multibillion-dollar drone industry, competing against China and the United States.

It oversees hundreds of cybersurveillance startups whose espionage innovations, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, have been utilized abroad “to locate and detain human rights activists, persecute members of the LGBT community, silence citizens critical of their governments, and even fabricate cases of blasphemy against Islam in Muslim countries that don’t maintain formal relations with Israel.”

Israel, like the United States, has been poisoned by the psychosis of permanent war. One million Israelis, many of them among the most enlightened and educated, have left the country. Its most courageous human rights campaigners, intellectuals and journalists—Israeli and Palestinian—endure constant government surveillance, arbitrary arrests and vicious government-run smear campaigns.

Mobs and vigilantes, including thugs from right-wing youth groups such as Im Tirtzu, physically assault dissidents, Palestinians, Israeli Arabs and African immigrants in the slums of Tel Aviv. These Jewish extremists have targeted Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, demanding their expulsion.

They are supported by an array of anti-Arab groups including the Otzma Yehudit Party, the ideological descendant of the outlawed Kach party, the Lehava movement, which calls for all Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories to be expelled to surrounding Arab states, and La Familia, far-right soccer hooligans. Lehava in Hebrew means “flame” and is the acronym for “Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land.”

Mobs of these Jewish fanatics parade through Palestinian neighborhoods, including in occupied East Jerusalem, protected by Israeli police, shouting to the Palestinians who live there “Death to the Arabs,” which is also a popular chant at Israeli soccer matches.

Israel has pushed through a series of discriminatory laws against non-Jews that echo the racist Nuremberg Laws that disenfranchised Jews in Nazi Germany. The Communities Acceptance Law, for example, permits “small, exclusively Jewish towns planted across Israel’s Galilee region to formally reject applicants for residency on the grounds of ‘suitability to the community’s fundamental outlook.”

Israel’s educational system, starting in primary school, uses the Holocaust to portray Jews as eternal victims.  This victimhood is an indoctrination machine used to justify racism, Islamophobia, religious chauvinism and the deification of the Israeli military.

There are many parallels between the deformities that grip Israel and the deformities that grip the United States.  The two countries are moving at warp speed towards a 21rst century fascism, cloaked in religious language, which will revoke what remains of our civil liberties and snuff out our anemic democracies.

The failure of the United States to stand up for the rule of law, to demand that the Palestinians, powerless and friendless, even in the Arab world, be granted basic human rights mirrors the abandonment of the vulnerable within our own society.

We are headed, I fear, down the road Israel is heading down.  It will be devastating for the Palestinians.  It will be devastating for us. And all resistance, as the Palestinians courageously show us, will only come from the street.

BIOGRAPHY

Jonas E. Alexis

Jonas E. Alexis has degrees in mathematics and philosophy. He studied education at the graduate level. His main interests include U.S. foreign policy, history of Israel/Palestine conflict, and the history of ideas. He is the author of the new book Zionism vs. the West: How Talmudic Ideology is Undermining Western Culture. He is currently working on a book tentatively titled, Kevin MacDonald’s Abject Failure: A Philosophical and Moral Critique of Evolutionary Psychology, Sociobiology, and White Identity. He teaches mathematics in South Korea.

Logoswars1@gmail.com

الجيش اليمني يكشف عن أوسع العمليات العسكرية في العمق السعودي

المصدر: الميادين

الجيش اليمني ينفذ عملية هجومية واسعة في محور “الخوبة – وادي جارة” بقطاع جيزان من 3 مسارات رئيسية على مواقع الجيش السعودي، ومصدر عسكري يكشف عن تحرير أكثر من 150 كيلو متراً مربعاً في محور جيزان.

الجيش اليمني يعلن تحرير عشرات المواقع على محور جيزان

نفّذ الجيش واللجان الشعبية عملية هجومية واسعة في محور “الخوبة – وادي جارة” بقطاع جيزان من 3 مسارات رئيسية على مواقع الجيش السعودي في “جبل الإم بي سي – وتباب الفخيذة والتبة البيضاء – والقمبورة والعمود وتويلق وشرق قايم صياب” وتم خلال العملية التقدم والسيطرة عليها بالكامل وإلحاق خسائر فادحة بقوات العدو.

مصدر عسكري يمني كشف عن تحرير أكثر من 150 كيلو متراً مربعاً في محور جيزان بعملية عسكرية واسعة.

وبدأت العملية عقب رصد دقيق لتحركات الجيش السعودي وتموضّع قواته وآلياته، إذ تواجدت في هذه المواقع قوات مشتركة من القوات السعودية ومرتزقة سودانيين ووحدات من مرتزقة ما يسمى بـ “لواء المغاوير”.

وأظهرت المشاهد تقدّم الجيش واللجان الشعبية نحو مواقع العدو في مدينة قبالة الخوبة في العمق السعودي، وتمكنهم من اجتياز الموانع والتحصينات المعادية قبل الإطباق والاشتباك مع قوات العدو من مسافات قريبة وإلحاق خسائر فادحة بالعدو أجبرته على الفرار. 

الإعلام الحربي في #اليمن ينشر مشاهد لواحدة من أوسع عمليات الجيش واللجان الشعبية في محور #جيزان.#اليمن #جيزان pic.twitter.com/PaH1xcnoDF— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) May 29, 2021

كما أوضحت المشاهد الموثقة قنص أعداد من قوات العدو وتدمير تحصيناتهم ومواقعهم، مبينةً حالة من الهلع والإرباك الكبير في صفوف قواتهم وسط الضربات المنكلة.

وتمكّن الجيش من تكبيد العدو خسائر فادحة في الأرواح والعتاد، وسقوط عشرات القتلى والجرحى من الجيش السعودي والسوداني ومرتزقتهم، وإحراق وتدمير العشرات من المدرعات والآليات بالقداحات (الولاعات) والعيارات النارية وضربات مسددة.

عمليات الجيش واللجان الشعبية في محور #جيزان.
17#اليمن pic.twitter.com/y0ZoRahfFm— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) May 29, 2021

وبيّنت المشاهد سقوط أعداد من ضباط وجنود الجيش السعودي قتلى وجرحى في كمائن محكمة استهدفت مدرعات حاولت الهروب وتعزيزات أخرى للعدو، ومصرع آخرين تساقطوا أثناء محاولتهم الفرار من منحدرات وعرة في حالة عكست الرعب والهلع الكبير دبَّ في أوساطهم.

عمليات الجيش واللجان الشعبية في محور #جيزان. #اليمن pic.twitter.com/dSFvO26Qiv— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) May 29, 2021

هذا وأظهرت المشاهد أسر العشرات من قوات العدو بينهم سعوديون وسودانيون، وأعداد كبيرة من الجثث المتناثرة في الشعاب والوديان تركها من تبقى ولاذ بالفرار.

ووثقّت المشاهد اغتنام المجاهدين كميات كبيرة من الأسلحة والذخائر المتنوعة تركتها قوات العدو في المواقع والمخازن التابع لها.

وانتهت العملية بالسيطرة على جميع المواقع المذكورة والتنكيل بالعدو وتكبيده خسائر فادحة، ومصرع وجرح وأسر ا العشرات منهم رغم مشاركة الطيران الحربي والعمودي المعادي، والذي فشل في إيقاف تقدم المجاهدين.

خريطة وزعها الإعلام الحربي اليمني للمواقع التي سيطر عليها الجيش واللجان الشعبية

وفي وقت سابق من اليوم، أعلنت القوات المسلحة اليمنية، عن تنفيذ عملية هجومية استهدفت قاعدة خالد الجوية بخميس مشيط السعودية بطائرتين مسيرتين.

من جهته، أكّد عضو المجلس السياسي الأعلى في اليمن محمد علي الحوثي في حديث للميادين إنه “ما لم يتحقق السلام ستستمر عملياتنا في العمق وسيكون الرد أقسى مما هو حاصل”.

وتوجه الحوثي للسعودية محذراً: “نحذرهم من

الوجع الكبير والمعادلة اليوم لم تدخل في كل أبعادها مرحلة الوجع الكبير”.

فيديوات متعلقة

مقالا ت متعلقة

• سلاح الجو المسير ينفذ عملية هجومية على قاعدة الملك خالد بخميس مشيط
• الإعلام الحربي يكشف عن واحدة من أوسع العمليات العسكرية في العمق السعودي ( فيديو )
• إحراق مدرعات وآليات الجيش السعودي | مشاهد نوعية لواحدة من أوسع عمليات الجيش واللجان الشعبية في محور جيزان
• مشاهد لمدينة الخوبة السعودية | مشاهد نوعية لواحدة من أوسع عمليات الجيش واللجان الشعبية في محور جيزان

UN Human Rights Council to Investigate Israeli War Crimes in Palestine (VIDEO)

Source

May 27, 2021

Israeli warplanes attacked hundreds of ‘targets’ in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) decided on Thursday, May 27, to “urgently establish an ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry,” to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, to,

“Investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021”.

The resolution was passed with 24 votes in favor, 9 against, and 14 abstentions. The US delegation of the Council in Geneva expressed its disappointment following the vote, alleging that the resolution represents an obstacle to the ‘progress’ that has been made.

LIVE: UNHRC holds special session on human rights situation in occupied West Bank https://t.co/nVw6GyPzpy

— PresserWatch (@PresserWatch) May 27, 2021

For its part, an Israeli Foreign Ministry’s statement dubbed the resolution a ‘moral failure’, aimed at covering the ‘crimes’ of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas. The Israeli statement also officially rejected the decision and declared that it will not participate in the investigation. 

Below, are the full events that preceded the UNHRC’s vote, as reported on the Council’s website:

Human Rights Council Opens Special Session on “the Grave Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, Speakers Urge it to Establish an International Commission of Inquiry

“The Human Right Council this morning opened its special session on “the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”.  It heard calls from speakers for the Council to establish an independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021.

“In her opening remarks, Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council, outlining the proposed extraordinary modalities for the session, said these modalities had been defined due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which prohibited public meetings of more than 15 participants, and should not serve as a precedent. 

“Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said both sides had the right to defend their citizens, and Palestinians had the right to live safely and freely in their homes, something that they were unable to experience due to the Israeli blockade.  The risk of evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and other neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem remained high, while the situation in the West Bank was alarming, with Israeli Security Forces killing 10 Palestinians on 14 May – the highest number in one day since the collection of these figures by the United Nations began in 2008.  The situation inside Israel was concerning: mob attacks took place on individuals in mixed cities of Bat-Yam, Jaffa and Acra, as well as attacks on places of worship instigated by both sides, with Israeli police failing to protect Palestinian citizens.  Despite the welcome news of the ceasefire, Ms. Bachelet emphasised that the root causes of violence must be addressed. 

“Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, speaking on behalf of his mandate and on behalf of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, said the events over the past month in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and also across Israel, were a calamitous repetition of what all had previously witnessed in 2018, 2014, 2012, 2008-09, 2000, 1987 and further and deeper into the tragic history of the Palestinians.  The United Nations had demanded repeatedly over the years that Israel comply with its international legal obligations and remove its settlements, stop its evictions, end the unlawful annexation, and halt the demolitions and forced removal of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem.  Defiance by the occupying power had been the answer.  The international community must insist upon a brand-new diplomatic playbook to end the Israeli occupation, one that was centred on rights, rather than Realpolitik.

Israel rejects UNHRC decision to launch probe into Gaza war crimes while Hamas welcomes resolution, saying its action against Israel is “legitimate resistance”https://t.co/8j1G9grXT7

— TRT World (@trtworld) May 27, 2021

“Issam Younis, Director of Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza and Head of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine, said that all over Gaza, for 11 days, entire families were huddled and living on kitchen floors as this seemed the safest place.  But nowhere was safe in Gaza.  Israel’s unlawful closure of Gaza, 14 years of collective punishment, had been tightened.  The bringing down of the Associated Press building had made it more difficult to get information out.  Recent events were a mere symptom: for 73 years, there had been systematic, institutionalised efforts to impose a settler-colonial regime of racial domination and oppression on both sides of the Green Line. 

“Mohammad Barakeh, former Member of the Knesset and Chairman of the Arab Higher Committee in Israel, speaking on behalf of the committee that represented all Palestinians inside Israel, noted that they had been spared displacement in 1948.  Over the past decades, they had faced different forms of discrimination – confiscation of land, imposition of emergency laws, restriction of job opportunities and more.  In July 2018, the Knesset had approved the Jewish nation-state law stipulating that the land of Palestine was the historical home of the Jews, who had the exclusive right to self-determination.  With this, democratic principles were dismissed by Netanyahu and the Israeli State. 

“Muna El Kurd, journalist and resident of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem, said the Israeli occupation forces refused to properly examine the property rights of Palestinians while the Israeli Government and colonial businesses were separating Palestinians from the land.  There was an apartheid regime: settlers could move around freely unlike Palestinians.  Sheikh Jarrah was illegally sealed off; residents could go out with their papers but nobody – nor their friends nor their loved ones- could come into this area.  The colonial violence suffered by residents and people who took part in peaceful protest was barbaric.  Palestinians were fired upon using rubber bullets, including in their homes.

Muna al-Kurd, a renowned journalist and citizen of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied #Jerusalem, was forced out of a UN Human Rights Council session today after she criticized lies by Israel’s UN ambassador. #savesheikhjarrah pic.twitter.com/gkNFTne4ra

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 27, 2021

“In the discussion that followed, speakers, while welcoming the decision of the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes within its material scope that might have been committed on the territory of Palestine, urged the Court to include the crime against humanity of apartheid in its investigations.  History showed the ceasefire would not end the everyday sufferings of the people in the occupied Palestinian territory that had been going on for more than seven decades.  The Council should take decisive actions towards ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including through dispatching a commission of inquiry, speakers said.  Some speakers said the establishment of a commission of inquiry would not serve the purpose of peace.  Regrettably, the self-professed global champions of human rights continued to shield the occupier from global accountability, and literally provided arm and ammunitions for its widely reported war crimes and crimes of apartheid against the Palestinian people.  Member States should support the draft resolution; the credibility of the Council was at stake.

“Speaking in the urgent debate were Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia; Abdul Momen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh; Shah Mahmood Qureshi,  Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan; and Najla Elmangoush, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Government of National Unity of Libya.

“Also taking the floor were Egypt on behalf of the Group of Arab States, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Portugal on behalf of the European Union, Sweden on behalf of Nordic countries, Azerbaijan on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, South Africa on behalf of the Group of African States, Mauritania, Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, Russian Federation, Bolivia, Bahrain, India, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, China, Republic of Korea, Czech Republic, Venezuela, Sudan, Somalia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Kuwait and Turkey.

“The Council will next meet this afternoon at 3 p.m. to continue the discussion and take action on the draft resolution before closing the special session.”

To read in full, please click here..

(The Palestine Chronicle)